Episode One: hackDestiny
by RagnarokFinis
Summary: Story COMPLETE! Please read the edit in Ch. 1! This is the story of Sircosgi, a new player to The World, and how he and his friends must struggle against a new vagrant AI. Meanwhile, in the Real World, Dan (Sircosgi in The World) must survive losing frien
1. Preface: Who Can Sail

Disclaimer: Project .hack/Bandai own The World. I own the rest. So HAH!

If you wish to praise me, write to Or, COMMENT! M'Kay? 

Credit: Due to where it is deserved. Read my annotation list.

Episode One-.hack/destiny

Preface- 'Who Can Sail'

"Who can sail when the winds won't blow?

Who can row without oars?

Who can part with their heart aglow,

Part without tears a-flowing?"

"I can sail when the winds won't blow.

I can row without oars.

I can't part with my heart aglow,

Part without tears a-flowing."


	2. Chapter One: Log In

Book One-

Log-In

Chapter one- Log In- Real World

The dream started out nice enough. Joy was surrounding him. He looked, and there was a girl, dressed in red, dancing. She began to sing a song. Her voice, bittersweet and strange, rang through hills and valleys.

"Divided we once were, but together now we stand.

All upheld on this holy land.

Through fire and water, joy and tears

We have come together after many years.

Remember my story, and hear my song,

Dan carry it with you all day long!"

The joy that once was around him faded, and it turned to sorrow. The light to darkness. A slip, then falling through darkness. As he fell, he began to see pictures, signs of the past. A man, a bloody girl, a stoned woman. Then, he turned a corner in his dream, and came face to face with himself. An expression of fear was on both of their faces.

Dan opened his eyes and immediately sat up, his brow wet with sweat. The lights in his room turned on, and he saw his parents at his door. His mom rushed to his side.

"Dan, is something wrong? A bad dream?" Dan nodded. His dad walked over to his bedside as well.

"I'm sure it was nothing." Dan shook his head.

"No! This one was different. It felt so, so real. Not like the last one. This one was, I don't know, tangible in some way. It felt like, I don't know, like it's happened before." His mom and dad exchanged a look.

"It was nothing," his dad said, "nothing more than a bad dream."

The sun rose, and Dan rose from his bed. At a size of five foot ten and his built body, he wasn't that hard to miss. Nor, was he that bad to look at. He had deep brown hair that fell just below his ears, and had golden brown eyes, that if you looked hard into, could tell that there was something always stirring deep inside of him.

He put on a pair of khakis and a tee shirt, and fastened up his boots. These boots, which were dark blue, came up to mid shin. If he did not wear these boots, he would have problems walking. A congenital birth defect was to blame. This error made every tendon in his legs to be short, reducing his flexibility and causing him extreme pain whenever he walked. These boots helped him, as his feet sometimes collapsed upon him, and caused him to fall. He had several pairs, in fact.

He looked his day by day desk calendar, and ripped the previous page off.

"October second. Friday. Heh. Better go see what they are doing now." He walked to the kitchen to find his parents already there, with balloons and streamers.

"Happy A-Day Dan!" This was the day that he was adopted. Fifteen years of living in this house. His dad walked over to him and placed a party hat on his head.

"Dad! I'm seventeen, way too old for a party hat!" Dan said, laughing. He looked over to the table to see his younger brother, Jas, sitting at a corner. He walked over to him. Dan had been adopted two months before his brother was born. The parents had been told that the child would not survive the birth. So, the two decided to adopt a son. Miraculously, the mother and son survived and became medical miracles.

"So, are you going to have something to eat?" Dan asked Jas. The boy looked up at him.

"Well, maybe. I'm not feeling that well to be honest." Dan nodded.

"Don't do anything to make yourself sick. If you need something, let me know. Okay?" Jas nodded. Mom walked over to the two boys.

"Dan, Jas, I got both of you something. For Dan's A-Day, and for Jas's B-Day. They were on sale, so we couldn't pass them up. If you two will come with me please." The two boys got up and followed her into the living room. There, sitting on the couch, nicely wrapped, were two boxes.

One had Dan's name on it, the other had Jas's. The two boys went to their respective boxes, and on the count of three, they ripped the paper off. There, sitting in front of them, were two top of the line computers. Jas muttered something under his breath. Dan looked at all of the contents, and laughed.

"It comes with The World on it, Jas! You see, we can play together! Isn't that great?" Jas nodded. Dan walked over to his parents, and gave each of them a hug.

"Thank you very much. You have no idea how long I have wanted to play The World. Or have a personal computer. Thank you very, very much!" His parents blushed, and hugged back. Jas came and gave his thanks as well. Then, the two went upstairs to set up their computers and The World accounts.

One hour later, Dan had completely set up his computer, and was just getting started on his account in The World. He double clicked the icon, and the screen popped up.

'Thank you for registering for The World. Please fill out the following information lines.' Dan screened down the list.

"Name, Age, Sex, Location, Language. Hmm. Okay. That should do it." He clicked the okay button.

'Now to register your character. Which class would you be interested in?' Dan took no hesitation to click Wavemaster. He had always wanted to play a wizard, so now was his chance. A new screen popped up, filled with character skins. He looked at some, before deciding on one that had a dark blue tunic. He then designed his face. He gave himself long, golden brown hair that touched his shoulders, dark brown eyes, and the infinity mark on both cheeks. He then placed a tall wizard's hat upon his head.

That being done he admired his work. It was, in his opinion, amazing. That done, he clicked the next button.

'Now, to register your name' He gave his real life name, then stopped when he got to his character name. He smiled after two or so minutes had passed, and put down Sircosgi. He clicked the next button.

'Registration complete. Click on the icon on your screen to access The World. Thank you for playing.' He was taken to his main screen, and clicked on The World icon. Another screen popped up.

'You have new mail' He double clicked on it. It was a message from his

brother.

'Hey, hurry up and finish! I'll meet you in Mac Anu. By the way, my character name is Pai. Hurry!'

Dan smiled at how impatient his brother was. He clicked on the icon that was titled Log In, and put on his visor. Immediately, colors flashed in his eyes, and many different things popped up before he saw Mac Anu, the root town.

A/N I am SOOOOOOO sorry about the goof-up on the amount of years Dan was inhabiting the house, which led to goof-ups on how old Jas and he were. When I was in the first stage of writing, Dan was only Ten. However, I had to change that. However, I overlooked that ONE thing. Please don't kill me.

Thus, here are the ages-

Dan- 17

Jas- 15!

Author… who screwed up!


	3. Chapter Two: Dungeon Adventure

Chapter two- Dungeon Adventure- The World

Sircosgi gated into the root town. Immediately, he saw how good the graphics were.

"Amazing!"

"DAN? DAN!" Sircosgi looked up to see a long arm calling his name. He walked over to him.

"Pai?" The person stopped yelling.

"Yeah? Dan?" Sircosgi nodded.

"My name is Sircosgi." Sircosgi scanned the long arm. Wearing white pants and with a red cross put on his chest, he looked very nice. Sacred, almost. He had short white hair that was spiked, and had a brown question mark on his left cheek, which complemented his chestnut eyes, it completed the look.

"Very nice! Very nice!" Sircosgi said. Pai smiled.

"The same to you. So, what should we do now. Oh, wait, stupid me! Here is my member address. Give me yours as well. That way, we can call each other to form parties." The two swapped addresses and formed a party.

"Now, there is a low-level dungeon that I heard of from the BBS. Let's go do it! The keywords are Dog Dancing, Devil, Hydra." The two gated over to that field.

The field showed up, and immediately they were set upon by goblins. Pai rushed over to them and started to fight them, Sircosgi providing support magic and the occasional attack magic. The goblins gone, the two continued to the dungeon.

They entered the dungeon, and walked through the door. They saw a monster portal, and stepped up to it. Five goblins and a fire mage popped out. Pai rushed to them, while Sircosgi attacked the mage with his magic. It began to look very grim when Sircosgi ran out of magic points, and started running around the room, hoping not to get hit while recovering points. But, Pai struck down the mage, and the monsters were all defeated. Sircosgi and Pai both leveled up.

"All right!"

By the end of the dungeon, they had leveled up again thrice, and were feeling very good. They reached the Gott statue, and they each received three items. Sircosgi got a Thunder staff, a yellow card, and a grunt doll, while Pai got a Cure sword and two grunt dolls.

They both decided to not use a sprite ocarina, rather, they would go through and clear out

any rooms they had missed. Looking at their map, they saw they had only missed one on the bottom floor. Rushing to it, they discovered a girl lying on her back. She wore a dark green dress, had brown hair, and

appeared to be a heavy blade. Sircosgi rushed over to her side, while Pai stayed back. Sircosgi shook her, and heard her grunt.

"Hello," Dan said, "we are friends. Do you need health recovery?" The girl nodded and grunted. Sircosgi stood up, and raised his staff.

"Repth!" A white light shone above the girl before a green light. The lights then disappeared, and the girl stood up.

"Thanks, some player killer wanting my member address came through here. I would've died, except someone in my party revived me, almost, after he left. The PK came back and was mad. He decided to teach me a lesson by draining all but one of my life points. How inconsiderate!" The girl walked over to the door.

"I could've done it myself. But, I suppose I should thank y'all. So, thanks." She pulled out her sprite ocarina. Sircosgi stepped forward.

"Don't leave yet! We at least should get to know your name!"

"Oh, really? Who do you think you are, some male chauvinist?" Jas smiled.

"We would like to think we are friends." The girl sighed.

"I suppose you are right. Any other person could have left me, but you two were Good Samaritans. My name is Casper, and you are?"

"I am Sircosgi, and this is my bro-" a jab to the arm stopped him. Pai continued for Sircosgi.

I am Pai. Nice to meet you Casper!" Casper smiled.

"Well, since you two are nice enough, here is my member address. Let me have yours as well, if you don't mind." A second passed, before the transfer was finished. Sircosgi spoke up.

"Well, lets leave this dismal dungeon, if you don't mind, that is." They all agreed, and they used a Sprite Ocarina and gated back to Mac Anu.


	4. Chapter Three: The Calm

Chapter Three- The Calm- The World

Sircosgi was the first to be back at Mac Anu. He stepped away from the Chaos Gate, and waited for the other two to come.

'This, this Casper girl. She seems to be, I don't know, a little unappreciative. But, really can't trust my first impression.' Casper and Pai both gated in at the same relative time. Sircosgi walked forward and

waved. The two followed suit.

The three saved their game at the recorders and then started to walk along the Mac Anu river. They came to a calm spot and sat down. The three just sat there, enjoying the peace. Suddenly, Pai stood up. Sircosgi looked over.

"Pai, what is the matter?" Pai looked down at Sircosgi.

"Practice." Sircosgi nodded. In the real world, his brother had to go to sport practice year-round. Today it was soccer. Sircosgi and Casper watched Pai leave, then faced each other.

"So, do you two know each other in the real world?" Casper asked.

"Well, kinda. We are brothers." Casper nodded.

"Must be nice to play with a sibling. Me, I am an only child. Adopted." Sircosgi nodded, and bit his tongue.

'Not yet!' Instead, he came up with something else to say.

"Yeah, it is kinda nice, but it is better to meet new people. I think." Casper nodded.

"True. True. Well, I have to go as well. See you later!" She stood, turned and left. Sircosgi remained on the ground, just watching the river flow.

He closed his eyes and smiled. Opening them, he saw a figure in front of him. The man wore a black robe, carried a black halberd, and had a stoic expression on his face. Sircosgi instinctively reached for his staff, even though he knew it would be for naught.

"Don't worry, young one," the man called in a deep voice, "there is nothing to fear. I am Pope Boragia, but people call me Boragia. Nice to meet you," He stopped, expecting a name.

"Sircosgi. Sircosgi Ardiwin. Pleasure." He extended a hand, which was shaken. Boragia sat down next to Sircosgi and set his halberd down, a sign of friendliness. Sircosgi sighed in relief.

"So, why did you decided to be a long-arm, especially with that type of halberd. Must be extremely rare!"

"Well," Boragia began, "it is kinda rare. My favorite weapon in the game, the Valhalberd!" Sircosgi's mouth gaped.

"I thought the Valhalberd was different." Boragia smiled eerily.

"Well, I have made some," he paused, "modifications." The speech paused from the two for a second, Sircosgi being at a loss for words, and Boragia looking at Sircosgi with a smirk.

"So, you must be a newer player Sircosgi, only being at level five. Youknow, if we were to fight in a party, I could boost your level with every fight." Sircosgi nodded. They would have to do that sometime.

"So, what level are YOU?"

"The sky, it is interesting," Boragia said, either ignoring or changing the subject. "Look at all of the detail. The clouds? They make the wind blow."

"No they don't!" Boragia snorted at Sircosgi's response.

"They don't? They DON'T? Well, that is about as much foolishness as Jabberwocky! In this World, everything is different. Nothing you see is what it is. Everything isn't just yes or no, white or black. Here, the wind is blown by clouds, and snow comes up, not down!" Sircosgi shook his head, and smiled.

'Obviously this man is off of his rocker' He thought.

"So, Boragia, that is an interesting name." Sircosgi said, changing the subject. "Where did you get it from?" Boragia opened his mouth, then closed it.

"It is almost as interesting as yours. What does it mean?"

"I asked you first."

"Well, I won't answer unless YOU tell me!" Boragia said that like it was final. Sircosgi stood.

"I see. Well, I think I should go now. I hope you have a good day, and that I have helped you in some way." He left, giving Boragia his member address, remembering what had been said before.

Boragia sat there and smiled before he picked up his halberd.

"You've been helpful in ways not even I can begin to imagine." He stood up, and walked to a secluded side road. He leaned against a wall, and talked, as if to no one.

"I think we have found it."

Sircosgi stood in front of the chaos gate, ready to log out. He turned and saw that Boragia had disappeared.

'Good thing, too. He is kinda creepy!'

"Sircosgi!" He whipped his head back and saw Casper logging in.

"My plans changed, and I can stay!" Sircosgi nodded.

"So, Casper, what SHALL we do?" Casper smiled.

"I don't want to fight, so why don't we just walk along the river here?" Sircosgi nodded. The two started for the river, joking as if they had known each other for a long time. The two figured they were relatively the same age, so they knew most of the stuff the other was talking about, but then there was-

"EEEWW! So THAT'S why girls are weird every once in a while. My gosh, I thought it was something that girls do to pick on boys, but oh my gosh that is just sooooooooo weird! It gives me chills just thinking about it. Don't you all hate it?" Sircosgi said, shuddering.

"Yep, but, hey we give birth. You get used to it after a while." Sircosgi nodded. He looked back, and smiled.

"So, Sircosgi, anything weird about being a boy?" Sircosgi laughed.

"Besides having two brains?" He laughed, but Casper didn't understand. "Right. Well, sometimes, whe- oh crap! I have to go! You remember Pai? Well he got tripped up at practice, the fool. Well, I'll e-mail you what I was about to say!" He got up, and waving at Casper, ran to the chaos gate.

There, he stopped. He just watched the thing swing around for a second or two, as if in a trance. He shook his head and raised his staff towards the heavens. With a flash and three ascending

rings, he logged out.


	5. Chapter Four: Home Life

Chapter four- Home Life- Real World

Dan took the visor off of his head, and stopped being Sircosgi. He rubbed his eyes, and walked away from the computer. He stretched his neck and legs then walked out of his room, and into his living room. There his dad sat, reading the paper.

"Hey Dan. How do you like your gift?" Dan smiled.

"It's awesome! Better than I thought imaginable! Hey, how's Jas?" His dad grunted.

"Well, it appears there is some stretching of the ligaments in his legs. No more playing on the team for him!" A small chuckle in an inappropriate place. "All he can do is rest until it heals. That's it."

"Where is he?" He father pointed to the kitchen. Dan waved and walked over. As he walked in he passed his mother. She sat down in a chair adjacent to her husband.

"Bill, how do the boys like their gifts?" Bill looked up from his paper.

"I really think they like them. How did you get the discount Peg? Was it a five finger?"

"No, actually I know a man who knows a man." She said cryptically.

"I hate when you do that!"

Dan walked into the kitchen and heard a gasp of pain. He looked to the chairs and saw Jas in one trying to stand up. He probably would have succeeded if his foot wasn't stuck into a bucket of ice. Dan rushed over.

"You had better not even try!" He gently pushed Jas back into the chair. "No one's going to hurt you, including yourself!"

"But-"

"NO buts!" Jas started to pout. Dan leaned down closer.

"Now we can play The World more together! How about it?" He smiled. Jas couldn't keep pouting with Dan smiling like that.

"Fine," he giggled, "we'll start tomorrow. Besides, we have something to worry about this evening." Dan slapped his head.

"Oh, crud! I forgot! All the excitement!"

"How could you forget? It is rather important!"

"I'm so used to not celebrating my B-Day, and not my A-Day!" Jas laughed.

"Yeah, I guess we did kinda just start doing that. Oh well. We should be ready by five. Okay?"

"Okay!" Dan walked back up to his room and closed the door. He took off his shoes and checked the clock.

"Only one hour to go!" He logged onto his e-mail account.

"Junk, junk, huh? What's this?" He clicked on an e-mail from someone he didn't know.

"'Keywords - Theta Bitter Mirror Holy Ground. Come soon'. Huh?" He clicked on the reply button.

"'To whom it may concern-

If you could identify yourself, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you-

SA'"

He clicked on 'send'. Finally he opened an e-mail from Casper.

"Hey Sircosgi! Just wanted to drop you a note, asking if you and your bro were going to be on tomorrow. Oh, and what were you saying about the two brains? Thanks! -Casper" Yet another reply.

"'Hey Casper! Just forget about what I said, please? Yes, I will be available tomorrow along with my brother. I got a weird e-mail with a Theta-based keyword. If you want we can go check it out! Sound good? See you tomorrow!- SA'"

Click send again, move on. He pondered over the keywords and its possible sender for the next half-hour or so.

"It could be Boragia. Nah, I think it's just a prank. Or is it? Gah!"

"DAN! GET YOUR BUTT DOWN HERE!" Jas yelled.

"COMING!" He walked down the stairs and went into the living room. There he found some people sitting down in chairs.

'Odd, I expected more.' he thought glumly. Suddenly some of his schoolmates popped up from behind the couch.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" They all yelled in unison. Dan laughed.

"Hey y'all! Thanks for coming!" Decorum from that point on collapsed.

The party turned out good at least. As it trickled down to a close, only four people stayed after to 'hang out'. They were his good friends Morgan, Lisa, Vanessa, and Amanda. Including Dan and Jas, those six made up what was called the Gruesome Six, the six smarter kids in the school, the ones who the teachers feared because they would point out every flaw, and also act up. Nonetheless, they were all good friends, and stuck together through thick and thin. Heck, they were the ones who introduced

The World to the two.

The six all hung out in Dan's room. They all were checking out the strange e-mail that he had received.

"Odd," Morgan began, "that it has no sender named." Morgan was the smallest in the group, but not the softest in speaking, at least not all the time. With red hair, green eyes, and freckles to boot, she proudly flaunted her Irish heritage.

"Yeah, it is rather odd. I wonder why you received it. Do you know anyone who has that capability?" Amanda said. She was the next up on the tall scale. She had long, wavy brown hair, hazel eyes, a nose broken from playing soccer, and a retainer; she had just gotten off of braces.

"I think it's called an admin, dipstick!" Lisa said. She played soccer with Amanda, and looked almost like her, except for her eyes. Deep blue. She crossed her arms. "I mean, who else could it be?"

"Maybe God sent it!" Vanessa said jokingly. She had extremely long, curly hair, and wore glasses. She, along with Dan, made up the two 'scary' people of the group, the ones that wore dark more than occasionally.

"Shut up!" The group said. Dan looked at all of them.

"Now, I know this may be impromptu, but would you all agree to meet us three in the root town?"

"Three?" Jas asked.

"Yeah, Casper will be accompanying us possibly."

"Who the heck is that?" Morgan asked.

"A friend," Jas said.

"If you could either write down your character name or send us an e-mail with it, or BOTH, it would be great. Here, let me write ours down." Dan said, grabbing a piece of paper, ripping it into four, and writing down his and Jas's Member Address Names, he handed them to the girls. They in

turn wrote theirs onto two sheets of paper.

"Riddler, Jester, Joker," He paused. "I see a theme, Batman. Let me guess, your name is," he looked at the sheet, "BADGER?" Dan read the last one, looking at Vanessa. "You mean the Badger Song?" She applauded Dan.

"YES! One whom I don't need to convert to the Badger Song!" She gave him a hug.

"MMRMFH!" Was all Dan could get out before embracing back. The group just stared at the two. They had all known that the two had liked each other, but this, THIS? Jas's mouth was wide open. The two finally broke and looked at each other, then at the group.

"WHAT?" They both asked at the same time.

"Nothing."

As dawn approached, Dan was just getting up. He had so much to do, so little time to do it in. He walked to Jas's room and roused him. The two ate a silent breakfast and made sure the others were up in the group. They then both logged into The World.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, another person was logging into The World, for entirely different purposes.


	6. Chapter Five: Origins of Twilight

Chapter five- The Origins of Twilight- The World

Sircosgi and Pai both gated into Mac Anu at relatively the same time. They both looked around before finding the others. Casper was walking on the bridge, looking into the sky. Meanwhile Joker, Jester, Riddler, and Badger were all in a close knit in an alleyway. Dan looked at them all.

"Please identify who you are." He demanded. A black haired Wavemaster, dressed in tall black high-heeled boots, tight leather pants, a scarlet red shirt, and with the bottom half of her face in crimson stepped forward.

"I am Badger." The player next to her, a heavy blade dressed in a long black dress, with red hair flowing to her mid section stepped up.

"I am Joker." The player next to her, a petite twin blade in a green jumpsuit and hat, waved.

"I'm Jester!" That left Riddler. She was dressed in a flowing tunic and had long blonde hair. She appeared to be a kind of Goddess. Her blade was strapped onto her back.

"Yo!"

"Very well, everyone, this is Casper." He pointed to her. "Let's all swap member addresses and we will go from there." About ten seconds passed before Jas spoke.

"Okay, what all do we need to get before we go?"

"Potions!"

"Mage's Souls!"

"Liquor!" The group laughed.

"Anything else? Magic Scrolls? No takers? Okay, off to the item shop, then to the Theta Server." Sircosgi said. The group monopolized the item shop for the next ten minutes, stocking up on many needed items. They all then gated to the Theta Server.

There, they all joined each other's party. They also elected Sircosgi and Badger to become the party leaders. Finally, they checked weapon and armor, making sure they had the correct abilities equipped. They then all logged over to the field.

Meanwhile, another player logged into the Theta Server as well, then making sure that no one was around, waved her wand. A green chaos gate appeared, and she gated to whatever was on the other side. It appeared that she never set foot upon the ground.

The group appeared into the field. They took a look around. Nothing seemed amiss. They wandered around, and even used a Fairy's Orb before realizing that they should search in the dungeon. They wandered in, and as soon as they walked into the second room found a monster portal. They

all stepped forward to find five swarms of bee armies. All except Sircosgi and Badger walked forward to fight, the latter doing healing and some offensive magic.

Casper and Joker took one, while Jester handled one by herself. Pai also fought solo, which left Riddler.

"VAK REVOLVER!" She yelled before doing a series of swings, thrusts, and chops to the remaining two swarms. They both dropped, dead. Between the five of them, they managed to kill all of the swarms without anyone having to use a Resurrect. Sircosgi then decided to use another Fairy's Orb.

"Odd," he said after a second.

"What?" Casper inquired.

"There's only one floor. Normally there's at least two. What do you make of it?"

"Nothing. Just lead us through all the rooms!"

"All right!" Badger said. "We will go left now!" The group left the room, leaving a warrior's remains un-smashed.

All throughout the dungeon they went, fighting the occasional monster, healing, and not killing themselves. The group all stood before the last door. They put their hands together and did a form of a pep rally before entering.

As soon as they stepped in, they realized something was amiss. They were no longer in a room, but in a field where there appeared to be floating castles, all upside down. They wandered the field, which seemed very small and circular. Suddenly, a ring of light descending from the sky appeared.

"Welcome." Descending from it came Boragia.

"Hey, I know you!" Sircosgi exclaimed. "WHY have you called us here?"

"Well, technically, I called only you. But you came with friends! Aww... how touching. You will all die here TOGETHER at Arche Koeln."

"What is that?" Jester demanded.

"Do you know anything about the Epitaph of Twilight?" Boragia demanded. The group shook their heads as one. "Very well. The Epitaph of Twilight is what this entire game is based upon. In it, there is an unstoppable Wave that defeats all, except for one, called the Twilight Dragon. But, none can seem to find it. Even Apeiron King of Light and Helba Queen of Dark fail to stop the Wave. Basically, that is what this all is based upon. But this is all trivial, for you will all die here, all alone." The

group raised their weapons.

"How nice! But remember, I have a modified weapon! Direct from Death himself. "

"Who?"

"No matter! Let's BEGIN!" Boragia said with an insane grin and laugh. As he rushed the group, a green light surrounded him. Casper looked at it.

"What the heck is that?"

"I don't know! But, rush in! Wavemasters, stay in back to heal. The rest of you, attack!" Pai and Joker, the two heavy blades attacked low, while Riddler attacked from the back. Jester and Casper attacked high from both sides.

Even so, they were taking devastating hits. Jester, Pai, and Casper all died, and no one had any reserve techniques, scrolls, or Resurrects. It seemed like Boragia was just toying with the survivors for a while.

Suddenly, Boragia raised his hand, Valhalberd in hand. He began to swing it in a pattern. After a few swings, a trail of light followed it, making the sigil visible. It appeared to be a Kenji, but after a few seconds, it took on the shape of a skull. Boragia stopped swinging, and smiled at the group.

"You should have listened, Sircosgi. I could have helped. But now, you must die."

The smile. It was one of a maniac. Boragia slammed his Valhalberd into the ground, and began to chant something. He then touched the death sigil.

That smile.

He grabbed his Valhalberd and swung it into the sigil. Immediately, it broke into pieces, hitting Jester and Riddler, who had stopped and converged when he started to create the sigil. They immediately fell, and turned to stone: dead.

That laugh.

Two shards were flying at Badger and Sircosgi. They both hugged each other and closed their eyes.

That maniacal laughter.

As the shards were barely a yard away from the two, a staff flew down from the sky. It caused them to stop, and the two to gate out without them commanding to do so. The laughter ceased and Boragia spewed out several phrases, only one being recognizable.

"NO! DAMN YOU HELBA!"

The two were falling, falling, into a void. The void began to shimmer with many colors, before turning pitch black. They couldn't hear their own screams over the raging wind.

Suddenly, they were gating into a place they had never been before. It seemed to be a junkyard of sorts.

"Hey, Sircosgi?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't think we're in Kansas anymore." An inappropriate laugh in an inappropriate place.

"Where are the others?"

"I think we're alone."

"What should we do?"

"Look around. Maybe we'll find someone who can help us." They began to wander that desolate place when they came upon a funny field, with eyes poking out of it.

"That takes the award for being creepy!" Badger exclaimed. Suddenly, Joker, Casper and Pai ran towards them.

"HEY! You guys! Over here!" Casper yelled.

"Huh? Oh, HEY!" Sircosgi saw and ran, Badger in close chase. They met and caught their breath.

"How did you guys get here? I thought you were dead?" Badger asked.

"Well, we don't know. We were, but then we were here. I'm not too sure." Pai said. Joker shook her head.

"It was kinda creepy. But, where are the others?"

"You mean they didn't come with you?" Badger asked.

"We thought they were with you." Casper said, shocked.

"Why are we here in this creepy field?"

"Well, if you don't like my home, next time I won't save you!" Said a voice from directly behind them. They all whipped around and found a floating woman, dressed in white with a hat covering her eyes, and two straps for a bra.

"Who are you?" Sircosgi asked. The woman laughed.

"I am Helba."

"Queen of the Dark?" Posed Pai.

"Yes. You know of the Epitaph of Twilight?"

"A little." Helba laughed.

"Why did you help us?" Joker then asked.

"Because, we need your help."

"We?" Casper looked around. "I only see you!" A girl floated in. She had on pink-ish clothing, and had wild, white hair. Her eyes were a bluish purple. "Oh."

"I am Aura," as she spoke softly, it sounded like bells ringing in the distance, and a great peace came upon them. "I am Aura, and I need your help."

"You don't seem like a normal character," Sircosgi said, "either of you." Helba laughed.

"Well, good job, little boy. I am not a normal character. I am higher than the system."

"You mean you're an-"

"Hacker?" She smiled, her purple lips shimmering. "Indeed."

"And you Aura, are you a hacker as well?" Casper asked.

"She is not. She is instead, The World."

"WHAT?" The group said in unison.

"You mean, that this girl, is in fact, an embodiment of The World."

"Yes and No." Helba smiled. "But, close enough."

"So, why are we here? I mean, you saved us from Boragia. Speaking of whom, he said that he is an agent of Death."

"The Twilight."

"Beg pardon Helba?" Pai asked. Aura answered.

"The last Twilight, my mother put me in a coma, along with other players. When I awoke, I performed my function as the Key of the Twilight, and I had to delete my mother. But it was for the best. But, there seems to be another twilight coming. One that will destroy us all."

"What do you mean by Twilight?" Badger asked.

"Twilight takes place when the Sun sets and the Moon rises. I speak symbolically, mind you. That last twilight was good, for it saved us all. This one means to destroy."

"How did it start?" Casper asked. Helba smiled.

"A hacker installed four Trojan Horses into the system. They made it into a file known as Revelations, named after the book of the Bible. There, they took on the characteristics of the four horsemen: Conquest; Chaos; Injustice; and Death. Hades also was formed, riding with Death.

These four mean to overtake me, and become The World. They have agents in The World, who will tear the veil that keeps them in their place. But, even though they are not here in body, they are in powerful embodiments, weapons. Weapons that have the power to put people in comas. Yet, that is

curable, but only if they are destroyed."

"And if not?" Joker asked, turning white.

"Then, they will fulfill the functions they are named after, subtly, but quickly so. That is why we have chosen you."

"Chosen us to do what?" Casper asked.

"To become the next group of Fanatics, to be the ones to help stop this. If you can't, none else can."

"And how do you expect us to do it? We're just ordinary players!" Sircosgi asked.

"We weren't going to send you off empty-handed boy!" Helba exclaimed. "I shall give you one gift, and one ability. I give you the gift to warp between servers without the usage of chaos gates! This is also applicable to dungeons and fields. I also grant you each an ability, one that will come known in time." The group felt themselves lifted into the air, and begin to glow from the inside. Aura stepped forward.

"By the power vested in me by being the Key, I grant you all the gift of the records of the last Twilight. Maybe there is something in them that can help." Five books appeared and opened in front of the five players. The books then were assimilated within their bodies.

"It is time for you to rise, oh chosen ones!" Aura said. Sircosgi stepped forward.

"What if we fail?"

"The power you hold can bring forth either salvation or destruction. The power they hold can bring forth only loss and death. If you lose, it means not only the end of The World, but the end of whomever is playing it." Aura said.

"You mean-" Casper began.

"Yes, all shall be lost." Helba stated flatly. "Listen; you will not be alone. I said that there were others. I have contacted them about your situation. Don't be surprised if one of them decides to DROP in. They can be of SOME use. You all have access to my gates, and access to most hidden areas. I suggest you start looking for these viruses." Helba said.

"How do we beat them?" Sircosgi asked. Helba laughed.

"Who knows. See you around, little ones." Helba gated out. The group just looked at each other in shock.

"Why us?" They asked each other. Aura looked at the group.

"Save me. Save us. Save the worlds. Become the next .hackers!" After this, she floated off.

"The what?" Joker asked in confusion.


	7. Chapter Six: ICU

Chapter Six- ICU- Real World

The five immediately logged out. They decided that they would immediately meet at Lisa's house. Jas and Dan ran down the stairs.

"Mom, we need to go to Lisa's house. Is it okay if we do?"

"What for?"

"Oh, well," they had decided not to tell anyone of their meeting. "Well, we just want to hang out there. She got a new movie, and she said that we would like it."

"Oh, okay. I'll drive you over there."

"Thanks."

Vanessa and Morgan were just arriving when the boys were at the door.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Hey, is her mother home?"

"I don't think so. Work probably." They tried the door, and found it unlocked. As they walked in the house, they found it painfully quiet.

They huddled in a group, looking around for her.

"Hey, didn't Helba say something about- OH NO!" Vanessa said, coming to realization with the group. They ran to her room, and burst through the door. There Lisa lay, on the floor with her visor still in place and still holding her controller.

"LISA!" Morgan rushed over to her side, Vanessa in a close second. Sircosgi was running for Amanda's house, which was across the street, while Jas ran for a telephone.

"911 Emergency? What's the emergency?"

"Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my-"

"Sir?"

"It-it's my friends- they're not awa- they're in co- co- comas!"

"Where are you located?"

"17-17-17-1776 and 1777-7-7 Drury lane." The operator seemed shocked.

"This is in more than one house?"

"Yes."

"I am reporting it to the proper authorities. Please stay on the line."

"Yes marm."

"So, what happened?"

"I- I couldn't tell you to be honest. I don't know."

"What is your name?"

"J-Jas."

"Well, Jas, it will be okay."

As soon as they heard, all of their parents rushed over. As Lisa and Amanda were whisked off to the hospital, each of the kids were placed in separate rooms with separate officers, giving accounts, and taking drug tests- just in case. After all of this, they were deemed to be clean, and innocent. So, they were all taken home, rather shaken, and told to get a good nights rest.

Jas and Dan rode back in complete silence. Their parents believed that it was the trauma. Yet, it was only partially so. NOW they understood the severity of their mission. They exchanged a small look. They knew what must be done. And nothing would stop them, not even their own parents.

They now understood that what happened to Lisa and Amanda was just a small, small sample of what could happen. They now knew that people's lives, lives that they knew not, were in the balance.

The next day, the four decided to go to the hospital, to see if anything had happened, if anything had changed. As they stood around the bed of Lisa, the nurse came in.

"Are you the kids who found her?"

"Yes ma'am." Morgan answered. The nurse nodded.

"I am praying for you all. Visiting hours are over for the time being."

"What are we supposed to do?" Jas asked wearily as he held Lisa's hand.

"Go home, and we will notify you of any changes."

The group assembled in the cafeteria of the hospital, not really hungry. They all got a soda as they sat down at a circular table.

"Well, what is our next course of action?" Vanessa asked. Amanda scoffed

"Duh? We go kick this virus's a-"

"Remember Boragia? He's only an AGENT, and we got massacred almost. No, there's got to be another way." Dan said. Silence reigned before Vanessa spoke.

"What about the veil? If we can stop the virus from completely getting out, we can buy some time."

"I agree, but what will we do with the time?" Dan asked.

"Tell the masses to log off?" Jas asked sheepishly.

"Right, tell them that an AI named Aura and a hacker told us on a special field? Jeez, we don't want to look like fools!" Morgan rebutted.

"What about the files Aura gave us?" Dan posed.

"I think that there is something beneficial in it, we just need to read through them. So," Vanessa said, "I will download it onto my laptop, and Morgan will do the same to hers. We will meet at Jas and Dan's house, and there we will all read over it, and take notes." Dan butted in.

"After we are all finished, we will then compare and contrast what we have learned. If there is something we don't understand, we can contact Helba to explain. Does that sound good?" Everyone agreed.

"Great," Jas said with a half smile, "meet us at our house around two? Oh, and bring some snacks. I have a feeling this may take a while." The group laughed and disbanded.

As Dan was logging back onto his computer, a screen popped up.

"You've got mail!" His computer said in a monotonous voice.

Click. Click. Point. Enter. As he screened down his incoming mail list, he read off name and topic. crap. Target- Buy! Buy! Buy! Josh G.- Happy Birthday? Pope Boragia-" His blood ran cold. He had given him his member address when he thought that he was good.

"JAS! I need you right now!"

The group stood around Dan's monitor.

"You know," Jas said, trying to liven up the air, "we really shouldn't meet in Dan's room. Last time, well, you know." Everyone just glared at him.

"Jas, I think we need to contact Helba."

"I think so as well. Any other ides?"

"Sounds good."

"Mhm." Dan nodded.

"Now, can your computers use The World on it?" Both of the girls shook their head. Dan nodded.

"Jas, if you don't mind, I believe that Vanessa and I should go. She can log in on your computer."

"Are you positive she should go?" A nod.

"Okay then. What will we do until then?"

"You and Morgan can research the data Aura gave us."

"Sounds like fun." Morgan said, somewhat bitter-sweetly.

"Okay, Vanessa, if you will go to the other computer?"

"Be right on. Meet you in Mac Anu?"

"Sounds good." As Vanessa left the room, Dan slipped on his VR glasses and logged in.


	8. Chapter Seven: The Shot Heard 'Round THE...

Chapter Seven- The Shot Heard Round- The World

Sircosgi gated into Mac Anu and stood by the chaos gate, waiting for Badger. As he waited, a thought came to him. He wrote Casper.

'Casper, if you're on, log into Mac Anu in the next minute or two. SA' He sent and waited some more. An axe wielder approached him.

"Hey, are you looking for someone to form a party with? If so, I may be your man. I am Plong, Plong the Magnificent."

"Um, no, sorry. I am waiting for-" Before he could finish, Badger gated in, followed by Casper.

"Sorry I'm late, I had to go around your br- I mean, the computer until I found the log-in icon." She looked at Casper and waved, then over at Plong.

"Who's he?"

"Plong the Magnificent. I don't know him. In fact we were just leaving. Bye Plong!" He grabbed both of the girls' hands and went over the central bridge. Casper was confused.

"Why did you call me?"

"Hold on for a second." Sircosgi looked for an empty alleyway. He found one, and walked in, pulling the girls behind him. Casper was getting agitated.

"Look buster, if it weren't for the fact that we are on-line, I would slap you!"

"Boragia e-mailed me." Sircosgi said quietly.

"WHAT?"

"Quiet!" Sircosgi looked around to see if anyone had heard. "We're here to contact Helba, see if she can help."

"How do you intend to do that?" Casper asked skeptically.

"Yeah, good question."

"Simple. We all have the use of her chaos gates. We simply have to warp back to Net Slum. Simple enough?" The girls were amazed.

"Wow."

"Good job!" Sircosgi held up his hand.

"Okay I am going to create a gate." He looked to make sure no one was around and raised his staff, instructing the two to raise their items as well.

"Helba GATE!" Light shone from the three weapons, bonding into one, green light, which flew into the ground. From there, a green chaos gate appeared. The three advanced towards it.

"Think it's safe?"

"I guess!" The three gated to the other side, unknowing that two pairs of eyes had been watching them the entire time; from behind a barrel, and from above.

The three ended up right where they wanted to be: Net Slum. They wandered the region, looking for Helba or Aura. As they wandered into what appeared to be the 'city' of the slum, they passed under what appeared to be an arch, in the Japanese style. They looked all in the city, but couldn't find anything. They dwindled out of the city, only to find more space.

"Hey Sircosgi?"

"Yeah Casper?"

"I think we'll be here for a while." Badger scoffed.

"No duh!" She said, somewhat good-natured. Sircosgi just smiled. They went back to the mysterious, creepy eye field, only to find Aura. They ran to meet her.

"Aura?" She turned and looked at the group. "We need your help. Do you know if Helba is on?" She blinked.

"I am not sure. Maybe if you wait for-"

"We got a message from Death's agent, Boragia." Aura sighed.

"Why must it always happen so soon?" Badger was confused.

"It?"

"Yes," Aura said. "it."

"What is it?" Sircosgi asked.

"The contact." Aura said simply.

"You mean this has happened before?" Casper asked.

"Of course." said a voice from behind them. They all whipped around to find Helba, whom was smiling. As they turned, Aura floated off to another part of the slums.

"I thought you would want to know what I thought."

"We're here to ask what you thi- wait. How did you-" Sircosgi stopped, confused.

"Silly little boy. I know a lot. But, that isn't the point. I believe the mail is safe to open. But, to be safe, have ONE person, in a room, open it. If they complete reading it, well, then go in. If not-" Casper nodded.

"I guess I won't be the one-"

"HOW did you know that some of us are in the same area?" Badger demanded.

"I said I know a lot. But really, who knows? See you around." Helba put her left hand to her heart, bowed her head, and gated out. The group turned around, and found Aura missing.

"Jeez, this gets weirder and weirder!" Casper exclaimed. They gated back to Root Server.

As they emerged from their rings, they found themselves surrounded by a group of players, totaling six. They contained all character classes, and seemed to be very powerful. A figure stepped to the center. It was-

"Yes, 'tis I, the Magnificent Plong. I have found my own group, and after seeing you make a gate, have decided to kill you and steal the item that lets you do that! Now, prepare to die!" He fell back, smirking. Two characters, a heavy-blade and an blade-master, stepped forward, stepping to each side.

"Well, if it's a licking they want, then who are we to deprive them?" Casper said out loud. The group readied themselves for battle. As the blade-master swung at Casper, she blocked with her spear. Meanwhile Sircosgi was blocking for Badger, who was making magical assaults. When enough damage had been done to those two, they stepped back, and a long arm and twin blade took their place. The two long arms went at it, and left the twin blade to the twin Wavemasters.

The same, however, happened at the end. When they had been beaten too much, they stepped back, and two others, this time Plong and a Wavemaster.

"Oh. My. Goodness." Badger said, breathing heavily.

"I don't know how much more we can take." Casper yelled. The two enemies attacked, sending a physical and magic attack at the group. Sircosgi summoned a weak shield.

"Ignore it! Badger, I need support magic! Hurry!" The shield started to crack.

"Where the hell are the police? " Casper wondered. The shield faded. Sircosgi was knocked to the ground by an axe attack, while Badger was hit by an earth attack. Sircosgi was dying, and neither of the Wavemasters had any Magic Points left. While the enemy Wavemaster started to torment Sircosgi and Badger, Plong made a charge towards Casper, who was frozen on spot. She started to scream.

'That's my cue', thought a mysterious man, lingering on the roof. He started his plunge.

All Casper could remember was an axe coming for her head. Then she heard a weird battle cry.

"BBBBBOOOOOIIIIIINNNNGGGG!" The next, Plong was on the ground, and a man in a black jumpsuit was standing in front of her, with two extending blades coming from his forearm. Meanwhile, the enemy Wavemaster in shock, the two Wavemasters started a counter-attack. Casper started to charge towards the enemy, but the jumpsuit man beat her to him.

"Hee hee hee! Kapow!" He said as he sliced the Wavemaster into infinity. He looked at the remaining four enemies and laughed. They all cringed.

To the occasional, wandering eye, it appeared as if a man wearing a black jump suit appeared on the other side of a group, who was at the same time falling dead. On the opposite side were three players, all holding their weapons in an attack position.

'How crude' one long arm thought as he passed the scene.

The group, however, was just staring at their savior in black. He had green hair, a purple headband, and some purple designs on his suit. On his face there were no markings, save for a scar on his cheek. He was looking around, and finally retracted his blades. He jumped high in the air, pulled a somersault, and landed in the middle of the group.

"What's wrong? Cat's got your tongue?" He asked in a mocking tone after an awkward time of silence.

"Who, who are you?" Casper asked, slightly attracted to him.

"Aww... you don't know me?" The group shook their heads in unison. "Jeez, old lady said she told them. But, then again!" He smiled at the group. "'Sora' is the name, killing is the game!" He rubbed his eye.

"And, sir Sora-" Badger began

"Wow, SIR! That's gotta be the, what, second time in my life I've been called that. Please continue!" The group regained composure.

"Yes, Sora. Why should we trust you?" Sircosgi asked.

"Eh, old lady sent me."

"Who," Badger began, "is 'old lady'?"

"You don't know? I am sure you do!" He said in a sing song voice.

"We give. Who?" Casper asked.

"Helba." The group nearly fell over.

"Oh, so you're one of the people she said that she would contact about our situation!" Sircosgi exclaimed.

"Ever the smart one." Sora said with a laugh.

"Well, I never!" Casper exclaimed. Sora looked from person to person.

"Well, I'm off! Oh," Sora looked serious for a second, "and by the way, summon Helba Gates in a field. I saw you! Tsk tsk tsk! Hee hee!" He jumped into the air, and onto the nearest roof.

"Hey," Sircosgi said, "I got his member address."

"So did I." Casper said.

"That was weird." Badger said. "Well, I think we should be off! Bye Casper!" Badger and Sircosgi, after waving farewell, both went over to the chaos gate and logged out. Casper just watched the two, somewhat bemused.

"It can wait." She said to herself before walking off, all alone.


	9. Chapter Eight: The Message

Chapter Eight-The Message -Real World

Vanessa came into the room two or so minutes after she logged off. She found Dan with a handful of straws. He looked at one face to the other, with no expression on his face.

"What did you learn?" Jas smiled and poked Morgan.

"Well, besides the fact that Morgan is ticklish, we learned something interesting."

"Go on," Badger said.

"We learned that Aura, for a period of time, was split into pieces. A special technique, known as Data Drain, was able to do so. The wielder of the attack was known as Skeith, and he was apparently what is known as a Phase."

"A what?" Vanessa asked.

"Well," Morgan continued for Jas, "basically you remember hearing about the Epitaph of Twilight?"

"Yes. Go on."

"Well, that is what The World is based off of."

"So? What does that mean?" Dan asked.

"Well, let me give the background. No interruptions please." Morgan said. The others nodded. "The Epitaph, or E.o.T. as we call it, was written by a German woman known as Emma Wielandt. She was in love with the man who created 'Fragment'. That was the predecessor to The World. She, however, died. Most of the E.o.T. was lost. But, what parts were found were written into the gaming code and storyline, by the creator of the game, Harald Hoerwick." She looked down at the screen.

"All that we know at the moment, is that there is something in the E.o.T. that deals with eight different phases. Morganna, an AI, to gather things on human emotion, used these phases. Skeith, for instance, was the Terror of Death. One, known as Macha, was the Temptress. Whatever information they collected was given to Morganna. With me so far?" She asked, finishing.

"Yes," Vanessa said, "but why split Aura into parts?"

"I am getting to that. Basically, these phases caused much havoc, and wherever they went, people dropped into, well, comas." She took a pause. "Aura was the only one who could solve this. She is, after all, the perfect AI. So, she bestowed upon a dot-hacker what is known as the Book of Twilight, and within is what we call the Data Drain Bracelet. With it, he was able to defeat the phases, and gain back the pieces of Aura. At the end, Aura had to die, but by doing so, she deleted Morganna."

"Hold on!" Dan said. "I know you said no interruptions, but earlier, Aura said that she had to kill, kill her mother."

"That is right," Jas said. "Morganna was Aura's mother. Technically, Harald, who created Morganna, would be considered Aura's father."

"So, Harald created a malignant machine capable of bringing death?"

"Well, not at first. He installed what is known as 'WaveringThought' into Morganna, and she kinda lost her maternal instincts. Morganna's initial duty was to create the perfect AI, who would die and absorb Morganna, killing her, and becoming The World itself."

"Oh, I see. I remember Aura saying something like this." Vanessa said, not fully understanding.

"So, do we have the Epitaph?" Dan asked.

"No. We only have its description. Nothing else."

"We need to find it. But, we have pressing matters now." Dan said, taking charge. "Helba said that it should be okay to open Boragia's mail. But, to be safe, we are going to draw straws. The person with the smallest straw must be alone in the room, open the mail, and make sure nothing pops out. I believe that two things must be done IF the mail is safe. Whoever is selected should print out a copy, and if nothing happens still, give all of us the copy, and allow us to read it. Then let us in. Make sense?"

"I guess." Jas said.

"Good. Now, here is the thing. All of us are subject to a coma if it pops up. So, whoever opens it must be aware of that. Okay? We are dealing with something serious. So, if selected, do not treat it lightly. It could be the last time we see you awake for a while. So, if anyone has a better idea, then speak now." Dead silence.

"Very well." He held out the straws. Jas, Morgan, and Vanessa all selected a straw, and all pulled out at the same time.  
"I'm good." Dan said before looking up. Jas was looking up, relieved. The two looked at each other before looking at Vanessa. She was looking at Morgan, who was looking at her hand. Held within it was the shortest straw.

Dan and Vanessa waited in their dining room, grabbing a snack for them and the other two, while Jas waited at the door, his foot bothering him. As Dan grabbed the drinks Vanessa was pouring some dip into a bowl. The two bumped into each other's back, causing them to giggle.  
Vanessa put down the dip and looked at Dan. He, still laughing, put down the soda cans so he wouldn't shake them up more than he already had. He looked up at Vanessa, and saw her growing sad.

"What's wrong?" He asked, straight-faced and genuinely concerned. She sighed.

"I know we are just at the beginning, but I feel so helpless. There is so much to do. I mean, we are in the middle of school, and we have to do this now, and, and, I just feel so overwhelmed. I don't know what to do!" Dan looked inside himself for a brief moment to gain insight, then sighed himself.

"It is true we are only at the beginning. We may come close to the brink of insanity. But, we are not doing this for us, we are doing it for others! We can't tell anyone we know, or ask anyone for advice or help. But, we can rely on each other, and the people we will meet. Like Casper. Or Helba and Aura. We must rely on them. It is like we are, like we are sailing, and all of us who know are in the same boat, looking for the enemy ship. We may encounter cold mornings, turbulent storms, and maybe even a few of us may fall ill, but we will find the enemy, and we will fight." Vanessa was looking at the floor, her face shining with tears.

"Yes. We are the only ones who know. In this, we fight for our friends. We fight for us. We fight for the idiots." A moment of silence passed between the two.

"The WHO?" Dan asked.

Morgan wished that she could have been anywhere except where she was. Even in the principal's office! Where, she hadn't told anyone before, she had been often. She had been a little troublemaker- that is before she met Amanda. She had mellowed Morgan out, and become her dearest friend. But now, who could she trust? She sighed and swallowed back some tears as she prayed a silent prayer, asking for safety. She double clicked the mail icon, and saw the message from Boragia.

"Well, I guess there is no better plan than to do, or to-" She stopped, unable to continue the phrase. She shed a silent tear as she clicked onto the message.

Jas was sitting outside the door, waiting for something; anything really. He felt so useless, not because of his foot, but because he wasn't chosen to log in just a half-hour ago.

'No,' thought he, 'I am only important enough to research! I can't do anything important!" He heard Dan and Vanessa coming up the stairs and began to intently listen for Morgan.

Sender- Boragia

Message- None

"The stars of heaven and their constellations

will not show their light.

The rising sun will be darkened

and the moon will not give its light.

I will punish the world,

I will put an end to the arrogant

and will humble the prideful.

I will make man scarcer than pure gold,

more rare than gold.

Therefore I will make the heavens tremble;

and the earth will shake from its place

In the day of his burning anger.

All will flee.

Whoever is captured will be thrust through;

all who are caught will fall by the sword.

Bows will strike down the young men;

nor will they look with compassion on children.

The time is at hand,

and the days will not be prolonged."

End of Message

"What the hell?"


	10. Chapter Nine: School Day

Book Two-

Reprise

Chapter nine- School Day- Real World

Sircosgi and Vanessa were still talking as they came up the stairs.

"And if we are the only ones who know, everyone else must be an idiot, because they-"

"Oh, I see Vanessa. Very smart!" Dan exclaimed.

"If I may," Jas said, somewhat formally, "dear sir, what are you talking about?"

"Oh, well, back in the kitch-" The door opened. Morgan, somewhat paled, walked out with three printed pages.

"The computer is safe. Come in and read. I have very little of this figured out. So, if you please?" She walked back into the room, and sat in front of the computer screen. She read over the material again.

"Now, we know that we are dealing with the riders of Revelations. But, this text is not found in the book. I do not believe that it is located in the Bible." Vanessa looked over it again.

"Besides, this can't be right! I thought that when the sky disappeared and the moon was blood-red, after three-fourths of the population is killed, and -"

"Yes. That is the text in Revelations. But, THIS isn't. I don't know what it is. It could be something that Death wanted us to hear." The group shuddered.

"Well, if that is-" Jas started.

"DAN!" Came a voice from downstairs.

"Yes Ma'am?" Dan said, calling back to his mother.

"The girls' parents are here." Vanessa stood up.  
"We're coming!" She looked at the group. "Study this, and cross-reference anything you can. Nothing is small. Everything is relevant now, and, well, I guess everything matters now. I am just so confused. But I guess we will see each other tomorrow."

"Oh," Morgan said, "I got so caught up, I forgot today was Sunday. Especially since we all didn't attend church."

They all parted, Vanessa giving Dan a special look and a whispered thanks.

He blushed.

The next day, the two boys arose at what Jas called 'the butt-crack of dawn'. They both showered and prepared for the day. Dan put his copy of the message into his bag, and walked downstairs to have breakfast. Jas joined him a couple of minutes later.

"Mmm. Nothing like a Pop-Tart to get you started in the morning," Jas said as he opened the wrapper to a strawberry flavored one.

"I lost my flavor for them on the vacation we took," Dan said, somewhat sarcastically.  
"Oh, come one, that was all just one big mistake. Well, we kinda did have to eat them for the ENTIRE week, even though they were disgusting!" Jas said.

On that fateful trip, Jas had packed the Pop-Tarts, their only source of breakfast, in the same container as the garlic. Thus, instead of regular, Brown Sugar Pop-Tarts, they had Garlic Pop-Tarts. The two suffered through it that week, and only Jas ate them anymore. Dan smiled as he poured some milk into his Captain Crunch.

"Man, you gotta love the Captain!" He said.

"Hey, we leave in five minutes, so hurry up and eat." Their father said as Dan was putting away the milk.

"Damn."

Dan and Jas stepped out of the van, their father heading off for work. Vanessa and Morgan, each of whom were looking rather groggy, greeted them.

"I didn't get a lot of sleep last night." Vanessa said. "Sorry, but so many things are bothering me." Morgan nodded in agreement.

"I couldn't stop thinking about the mail that-"

"So, anyway," Dan said, butting in, "how do you think we'll do on our quiz?" Morgan, seething, started gritting her teeth.

"Look, we have to be careful," Dan said in a private conference with Morgan during lunch. "We can't exactly talk in the open like that. I know you're mad, but let's just think. Please?" Morgan nodded.

"Sorry for getting so mad." She gave him a hug.

"Oh," Vanessa said, "I see how it is. Cheating on me?" Dan shook his head.

"We're not an 'item' yet."

"Yes. YET!" She said as she sat down. "Man, Mr. Parker's class was boring. All he talked about was the Element Chart. Is it me, or is he fixated on the word Period? I mean," she slipped into an impersonation, "Period seven. Period four. Period five. Period- no, period three. Jeez!"

"I thought that the question the girl asked was, well, stupid. 'Was plasma discovered in a TV?' WHAT kind of question is that?" Dan said, laughing.

Jas came over, slightly limping.

"Jeez, I hate going to my locker. I feel like I am going to get killed. All those football players. And my team thinks I quit. I hate how they do that!" Morgan looked confused.

"Do what?" Jas sighed.

"Think." Morgan smirked.

"I didn't know they could." she said, as he walked into her planned out trap.

"HEY!"

After lunch, they all headed to their Drama class. Margaret Daily taught it. She was somewhat larger than most, and seemed to be rude, but if you were in the Drama Club, she was nicer and easier on you than most. Plus, you got to act on stage, which was a bonus. Well, for two of them. Dan and Vanessa had no self-esteem, but Morgan and Jas wished to save 'face' as they called it. They joined the stage-crew part. Both parts are essential, so no one felt left out.

Mrs. D, as the Drama Club called her, was giving out acting assignments when an office aide came to the door. She took the note handed to her and read it.

"Morgan. You need to go to the Dean's office. It says to bring your stuff." Morgan, a little confused, did as she was told. Two minutes later, another note came, this time for Jas. Same instructions. After five minutes, Vanessa and Dan were summoned. All four of them were waiting in the office, when a fight broke out inside.

One boy was angry after being called an expletive 'slur', and wished to show who said it the 'errors' of his ways. So, after five minutes, two teeth, one broken nose, and too much blood, it was broken up, and the boys were cuffed. The instigator looked at Jas.  
"YOU WANT SOME O' DIS?" He asked. Jas, wide-eyed, almost started to leave when someone called the four of them in the next room. As they entered, they found the Principal, Mr. Clark, who was brainless, and the Vice-Principal, Miss Williams, who was worthless. Finally, there was a man, who was nameless to them. Mr. Clark spoke up.

"I am sorry to hear about your friends. They will be missed until they recover from, uh, what was it again?"

"Um, sir, it is a coma." Miss Williams said, scoffing.

"Right, that. Well, tell them that we are hoping for the best."

"Sir?" Dan said. "It's a coma. They're not awake." Vanessa started to sniffle.

"There, there my dear," Mr. Clark said. "I'm sure the flu won't kill the-"

"Um, sir?" Miss Williams said, somewhat irritated. "There isn't any flu."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Really."

"Oh." The man stood up and cleared his throat.

"Oh, yes." Mr. Clark said, glad to get off of the subject. "Kids, this is Mr. Ides, and he works for CC Corps." Mr. Ides, wearing an olive colored suit, looked rich. Well, his gold Rolex said so. He had brown hair, parted down the middle, so perfectly that it appeared that he had his hair disciplined, and punished any strand that went out of line. He wore small glasses, and had small, calculating black eyes. He appeared to be no older than thirty, and by looking at his ring finger, single.

'Wonder why,' Morgan thought, 'he is kinda cute.' She blushed.

"Hello, kids. I am here to ask you a few questions. About your friends. Do you think you can answer?" Dan was a little shocked.

"How long do you think it will take?" Mr. Ides smiled.

"As long as it takes."

The group was being called in one by one. Vanessa was first. About twenty minutes later, Jas was called in. Seeing how Vanessa didn't return, everyone thought that she had been released through the back door, as not to reveal anything.

Twenty minutes elapsed again before Morgan was called. Jas was nowhere to be found. As Dan watched the clock and snacked on some celery, his name was called. He walked into the office, rather apprehensively, and prepared for the worst.

The first thing Dan noticed was how dark the room was. All of the curtains were drawn and the only source of light was from a few small lamps. There was a desk, and behind the desk was an office chair, its back facing Dan. He sat down

"Drop the thematic looks, please." he asked, rather icily. Mr. Ides whipped around in the chair.

"What have you done with my friends, sir?" Dan asked. Mr. Ides lit a cigar.

"They have been," a pause, "released. But, it is you I am interested in. Actually, it is the events surrounding you." He brought out a tape recorder. "Do you understand that the following conversation is being recorded?" Dan glared.

"I know my rights. I demand that my parents be present for the interrogation." Mr. Ides smiled.

"Hmm. Just like the others. Your request is denied! I have leads that you are an illegal player in The World, and if so that makes you a hacker. If your parents are present, the international police will be as well. So, I will ask you again, do you understand the following conversation is being taped?" A moments pause.

"Yes, but under protest and threa-"

"Very well." Mr. Ides said. "Question one: what is your name?"

"My name is Dan."

"Question two: how old are you?"

"Age 16. But how is tha-"

"Question three: how long have you been playing The World?"

"Three days. But, I haven't done any-"

"Question four: what happened two days ago? To your friends?"

"We were playing The World, and were being attacked by a monster, when they were killed. We didn't have any resurrects, but even so, their ghost form disappeared."

"Is that all?" Dan bit his lip.

"Yes. That is all." Dan looked at the clock. It had only taken ten minutes. He grabbed his belongings, and started to leave.

"Oh, wait, please." Mr. Ides said. Dan looked over his shoulder. "Can I offer you anything to drink? Pepsi, Coke, Sprite?"

"Sure." Dan walked back to the desk, sat down, and requested Coke. As he opened the can, Mr. Ides opened a can of Sprite for himself.

"You see? I am not such a bad guy, now am I?" Dan didn't show any emotion. Mr. Ides grimly smiled. "I called you back because I forgot a question. What do you know of the Key of the Twilight?" Dan coughed. Mr. Ides cocked his head.

"Does that mean you know what it is?" Dan shook his head, and as he put down his can he came up with a lie.

"Is that a car, because that is a funny name! I mean, I thought it was Kia, but is it Italian?" Dan put on his fake Italian accent. "Mamma Mia, looka da 'Kia De Twilight?" He snorted.

"OUT!" Dan scrambled to his feet, and ran out of the room from an irate Mr. Ides.

As he walked out the room, the bell signifying the end of the day rang. He saw the other three leaving the teacher's lounge, which was directly across from the office where they had been held. As he entered Jas handed a Coke to Dan.

"Thanks." The four discussed what had been asked, and found that they had told relatively the same story.

"Why do you think we were questioned?" Morgan asked.

"I, I don't know." Vanessa said, somewhat shaken from the experience.

"I think it was because of our meeting Aura." Jas said.

"No, it has to be something bigger. Hey, when we all get home, let's try to meet up. Log into the Delta server. Maybe we can find a clue. Try to be there around Three o'clock. We will wait until three thirty, and then we will leave. Sound good?" The group nodded assent.

"Oh, and one last thing, do not tell anyone what just happened. I don't know what CC Corps is playing at, but we must keep it secret. Okay?" Vanessa said, regaining her lost composure.


	11. Chapter Ten: The Knights

Chapter ten- The Knights - The World

Sircosgi and Pai logged into Mac Anu at the same time. Sircosgi rattled off a Party Mail to Casper, but found she was off-line. The two waited at the Chaos Gate until Badger and Joker gated in. The four decided to start roaming the Root Town and search for anything suspicious. They paired off into teams of two, one being Badger and Pai, the other being Joker and Sircosgi. That way they had one Wave-Master in each group.

Pai and Badger found themselves in a small back alleyway, and looking for anything that seemed out of place. They only found two characters doing some dealing. They wandered the streets, finding only the normal happenings, well, happening.

Joker and Sircosgi had no better luck. They had thought they found something when they found a character with, well, rabbit ears. After chasing the character down and finding the ears to be a rare item, they hid in an alley from the woman's fury.

Beaten and slightly bruised, the group united again.

"Find anything?" Joker asked the others.

"No. You?" Badger said, somewhat dejected. Sircosgi shook his head.

"The same. Do you think we should-"

"No. We shouldn't try to contact them. It would be a waste of time." Badger said. "Besides, remember what happened last time?"

"Oh." There was a loud noise from the central square of Mac Anu. "What the hell was that?" Sircosgi roared. The four ran to the origin of the noise, only to find a group, dressed as knights. A woman was standing on a pedestal, addressing the group.

"As of noon today, the CC Corporation has established that we, the Maroon Knights, are the officially SANCTIONED patrol. So, if you will check the BBS, you will find the rules, and what regulations we have put into place. Watch out hackers, and characters with altered data. WE WILL FIND YOU! WE WILL DELETE YOU! So, if you turn yourself in now, we may allow you to continue play, just not with the same data. UNDERSTOOD? I am Lady Celeste, and I am the leader of the knights. I will try to be what Lady Subaru and Lady Kamui once were. You WILL be seeing us!" She spun off of her soapbox and walked into what appeared to be the knights' main office.

"I don't like it. It's like the CC Corps is after us. Remember what Helba said? She altered our data! If we are caught, it could mean-"

"Eternal destruction. Yes, Pai, we know." Joker said.

"HEY!" Sircosgi shouted. "I have a great idea! I got it from Celeste. Why don't we post on the boards about the Epitaph of Twilight? See if we can get anything."

"I like it!" Badger said.

"It won't work probably. Think about the vast numbers of mail that the board receives on a DAILY basis." Joker said.

"I hate it!" Badger said, somewhat jokingly.

"That is true," Pai said, "but we have to take that chance. Listen, we need to learn more! We don't know how much time we have left."

"What if we are caught?" Badger asked. "Now that there are the knights, we do risk an investigation. Plus the guy earlier today who interviewed us: he knew we had altered characters. But how?"

"There are so many questions. But, you know what? We also need to try to have fun. Let's go do a dungeon and level up a bit? Sound good? Afterwards, we can discuss it. But, for now, we need to relax a bit." Dan said.

"Jeez, the knights are out in full force!" Sircosgi exclaimed. There were at least three knights roaming the field, and one that was supposedly in the dungeon said a couple of passer-byers.

"You know something? I really like this non-chaos-warping thing. I can warp straight to any field. Any dungeon. In fact, I wanna get the Gott statue." Jas said, joking around.

"Shush! Here comes one!" Badger said. The four talked over nonsense items as the knight approached the party. Joker came up with a topic.

"So, what about Mrs. D? Why did she pick the play to be You Can't Take it With You this time, even though the title should be It Can't Come With You! I was sure she was going something like Charlie Brown or something by Tim Kell-" The knight was now standing in front of the group.

"Greetings. I am Maroon Knight Paul. I am here to serve the world, and rid it of all rule-abusing players. Have you heard or seen anything unusual?"

"Um, no sir, I am afraid I haven't." Joker said. The group nodded agreement.

"Very well. You will be sure to contact us if you see anything?"

"Of course!" Badger said amiably. "Oh, by the way sir, someone mentioned something called the Epitaph of Twilight? Is that a special item, or document of sorts?" Maroon Knight Paul fidgeted.

"No, not that I know of. Maybe you should post on the board to find out! Well, I have to make my rounds. I am here to serve!" With that, he walked off.

"Jeez, cut the strings puppet. Oh, good job Joker, especially with that joke!" Pai said.

"SEE! That is three against two. We post on the boards!" Badger said with a smile.

"Oh-My-Freaking-Goodness!" Badger exclaimed. They were on the lowest level of the dungeon, and it appeared that they wouldn't make it to the next room. The group had leveled up considerably, but one can only take so much Mad Grass and Valkries before you get seriously injured.

"VAK ROM!" Badger shouted, sending an explosion towards a Bee Army. "HAH!"

"REVOLVER!" Pai cried out, taking out a Mad Grass.

"ION STRIKE!" Sircosgi cried out holding a scroll! The group finished and stayed in the room for a second, catching up on Magic Points and breath.

"How many more rooms?" Joker asked.

"I dunno. Fairy Orb!" Sircosgi looked at the results. "Heh, there is one more room. Then, the Gott Statue!"

"Oh, faboo."

The group was standing in front of the Gott Statue, deciding who should open it.

"Okay, let's not play the straws game!"

"No, Bubblegum Bubblegum!"

"No-"

"HALT!" The group started and turned around at the unexpected command. There, standing behind them, were Paul and another knight. They were dragging another player in tow.

"We have information concerning you as insurgents. The Epitaph of Twilight is an outlaw's document. So, we must insist on taking you in for questioning." The other player, a girl, squirmed. "NO FIDGETING!"

"And, pray tell, how are you going to do this?" Sircosgi asked calmly.

"We wish for you to come in peace, but if we must we will take you in by force." Paul said, no longer the kind gentleman.

"Well, can we get the Gott Statue before you haul us off?" Joker asked.

"Of course." Said Knight number two.

"Really?" Jas asked.

"Of course not!" Paul exclaimed.

"Oh, well in that case," Sircosgi readied himself, "I am afraid we don't have the time to do so. It just isn't convenient for us to stop in right now. However, if you can schedu-"

"You will come in NOW along with this other player. She will be deleted. You may be let off with a warning. But, in any case, you will be coming in."

"NO! We have no time! We must hurry!" Joker said.

"Well, then, prepare yourself for battle!" Paul said. The knights, putting the girl into stasis, charged towards the two. The two wavemasters were shoved to a side, considered too weak by their fellow players. Pai and Joker both faced the Knights head on. Badger gave periodic healing magic, while Sircosgi went to try and get the girl out of stasis.

"What is your name?" He asked the Twin Bladed woman.

"I am called Kahlan." She had a white dress, with long brown hair, and green eyes. The only marking on her body was a triangle on her forehead.

"Why are you in trouble?" Sircosgi asked.

"I, I don't know." She said, hiding something.

"Damn. I can't get this undone. Is there anything that may work?"

Meanwhile, the two heavy blades were matching blows with the two axe-wielders. It was going good, until the Knights started tripping the other two up.

"HEY! That isn't chivalrous!" Joker cried when knocked off of her feet.

"So what?" The knight started to hold her down. Joker started to scream. Badger made an unexpected magic attack, not on the knight, but on Joker. She was knocked into the air, and the knight skidded down to where Sircosgi was. Paul was slowly gaining on Pai. He felt his back hit the wall.

"Oh crap."

What happened next not one person could explain at the time. It did become a legendary event. Some say that the gods themselves walked into the dungeon. Some say that a virus took over the dungeon. But, not one person knew the truth. However, five did.

It started when Joker hit the ground. Too hurt to help, she gazed up at Paul grinning at Pai. To her left the two wavemasters were defending themselves against a much stronger axe wielder. In her despair, she shed a tear. When she realized this, she was flabbergasted.

"This, this world, you can't cry." The tear hit the ground, making a loud musical note, one that stopped the action. Everyone looked over to where Joker was lying on the ground.

Where the tear had hit the ground lay a necklace with an amber stone set in the middle. In the middle of the amber was the tear, crystallized. Joker looked at it, and picked it up. All other action ceased. She put it on, and her health was suddenly back, and she felt better. She checked to see what was different, and found a new skill on her lists.

"Possess?" The knights had regained their composure.

"Illegal item!" Cried Paul as he, along with the other knight, raced towards her. She began to panic.

"What to do, what to do? Oh, lets try this!" She grabbed the crystal and pointed a finger towards Paul.

"Possess!" An amber light shot forth from her finger, and went straight through Paul. It lifted him into the air, and rings surrounded him. He started to scream. Suddenly the rings disappeared, and he floated back to the ground. He dropped to his knees, panting. His teammate stopped dead in his tracks.

"Paul? Paul?" He cried, shaking Paul's shoulders. Paul stood up. "Oh, thank-" Paul approached Joker, slowly, as in reverence.

"What can I do for you?" He asked, bowed on one knee. Joker was shocked. The others were gaping. Kahlan looked confused. Joker seized her wits.

"Kill him." She said, pointing towards the other knight.

"Yes, milady." With that, he charged towards the other knight with great speed.

"No, PAUL! It's me, Ed! NO! STOP!" He screamed, but nothing stopped Paul's charge. With a swipe, the knight lay on the floor, fading into zeros and ones. Paul wiped his axe and approached Joker again.

"What can I do for you?" Kahlan realized something. Joker was thinking.

"I don't kno-"

"Tell him to free me!" Kahlan said, butting in.

"Very well." Joker said, with no objections rising from her team. "FREE HER!" With a wave of his hand, Kahlan was able to move again. As she rubbed her wrists, she heard Paul go back.

"What can I do for you?" Joker looked at him. She had decided on what to do, and needed no more counsel. She muttered one word.

"Give the following message to Lady Celeste," Joker said, venom in her speech. "Tell her to give up her search for us. If she continues to hunt us, then she will face the consequences." Paul nodded and gated out.

"WHY the HELL did you let him go?" Sircosgi demanded.

"I don't know!" Joker said.

"Well, let's get this stupid item before we do anything else. You there," he spoke now to Kahlan, "you come here." Kahlan slowly walked towards the group.

"Um, yes sir?" Sircosgi softened his features.

"Are you okay?" She nodded. "Very good. You are free to go." She nodded and turned.

"I have seen so many things today. Call me sometime!" She said before using a sprite ocarina.

"Jeez, people hand out their member address like it is nothing!" Badger said.

"Okay folks. Log off, and you two come over to my house. We will talk there." Sircosgi said.

"What about the Gott-"

"Taken care of. Let's go before the admins come!" Pai ran and got the treasure, and the four logged out of The World, back to reality.


	12. Chapter Eleven: Risk Management

Chapter Eleven- Risk Management- Real World

"HOLY-"

"SHUSH!" Jas chastised Vanessa.

"What?"

"I don't want my parents to hear that!" Jas said, shrugging. Dan shook his head. The four were sitting in the dining room, doors closed. Dan told his parents that the four wished to be alone, but if they wanted to check in on them every once in a while to make sure there wouldn't be any children soon arriving, that they were free to. His parents had agreed, with a little laughter.

"Besides," Bill had said, "we would hate to cramp your style!" Dan groaned when he heard that.

"I am afraid you just did."

The group was snacking on some soda and Tostitos chips. Dan stood up.

"Before you, you will see steno notebooks. Those are yours to keep. We will be keeping notes. This meeting is now opened. First order of business-"

"Hey, why are you the Chairman?" Vanessa asked. Dan shrugged.

"I figured that since I invited you all over, it would be okay. But, let's make it open-panel?" The group agreed.

"Well," Morgan said after a moment of silence, "I want to talk about the ability I used. Possess?"

"Yes, well, I was thinking about that," Jas answered, "and do you remember when Helba was giving us gifts?" Morgan was slightly confused.

"Uh, yeah? Why?" Dan realized where his brother was going.

"Well, she said 'I also give you one ability that will be realized in time only' or something like that. That, dear friend, was a Helba Present!" Vanessa and Morgan both nodded in understanding.

"I am not sure what the ability will do to your character, IF it will do anything. I will just hope that you will use it sparingly." Jas said in closing.

"Okay, new business- Member Addresses. I would like for everyone in the next week to write down who is on their member address list, and make four copies of it. Then, when we meet again next week, give a copy to everyone and keep one for yourself. We will update, if need be, whenever we have a meeting like this again. Make sense?" Dan asked. No one answered.

"I have something," Vanessa said. "While the Knights may be after us, we also have to worry about the Trojans. Will Jas go and post the message on the board about the Epitaph please?" Jas nodded and went off, slightly limping.

"Oh, his leg is hurting him slightly still, I suppose," Morgan stated.

"Yeah, but it will for a while." Dan said. "Oh, and I do have one thing; something that I will tell Jas later. We need to figure out where the veil is as well."

"Where did Boragia attack us?"

"Arch Kiln I think." Vanessa answered Morgan.

"Oh. He said it is in the Epitaph. So we should be able to find it there. But, maybe it is there, or some place linked. In a few days, we should try to go back to the dungeon. Maybe we will find a few answers there. Until then, we need to level up. No one under level thirty should go." Dan said.

"Oh, well, we have our work cut out for us, eh?" Vanessa said.

Jas, meanwhile, had logged in and was posting the message.

"To whom it may concern-

My friends and I have been wondering about a document known as the Epitaph of Twilight. A passing character of whom we can't recall his name gave the name to us. We would greatly appreciate any information that can be given to us. Thank you."

He sent it and checked to see if there were anymore new posts. Yes, there was one. He opened it.

"Dear players-

This is the Lady Celeste. A few hours ago, a party made an attack on two knights, two knights that have been seriously injured. If you can offer any information, there will be a reward. So, let us work together and eradicate all Illegal players.

Your Helper and Friend-

Lady Celeste

Leader of the Maroon Knights".

"Curses."

"So, what shall we call ourselves?" Dan asked the two girls.

"I don't know. Do we need a name?"

"Well, we should think of one, if not now, then later." Dan said.

"Okies. Well, I need to go home. I have homework." Said Vanessa as she rose from her chair. She took out her phone and called her mother to take Morgan and her home. They then opened the doors and walked outside.

"You know, I hate having secrets." Morgan said. "I told Amanda all of my secrets. Well, almost all of them. That is why we are such good friends. But, I hate having them!" Vanessa sighed.

"I do as well, but if anyone knows what we are doing, they may try to interfere. That is the last thing we need. We must handle this by ourselves, and with Casper I suppose. It is important that we do so. The duty has been charged to us. So, remember that it is a secret. Keep it that way." Dan said. Vanessa's mother drove up.

"Well, let us go. I will see you tomorrow. Bye Dan." She kissed him on the cheek before getting into the car.

It wasn't the red lipstick she wore that turned his cheeks red.

Dan opened the door to his room to find Jas holding a paper.

"Dude, sit down. I found this on the board." Dan read over the paper.

"Do you think that they are, well, injured for real?" Jas nodded. Dan sighed.

"Well, now we know what happens when we use our gifts; people are hurt if we use it on them. Well, that is one more risk we take in doing this."

"A risk? Aren't you being a little near sighted? That RISK is a LIFE!" Dan sighed again, this time more deeply.

"I guess in the greater scheme of things, if there are a couple of people hurt, AND if we succeed, then their pain and loss will be everyone's joy and gain. See? It may be harsh, but I will do anything necessary to win." Jas looked at Dan as if he had said something odd.

"This has changed you brother. Before you wouldn't ever hurt a fly. Now, well, you are gambling with people's lives. I don't like the situation we are in."

"Neither do I, dear brother. Neither do I."

It was close to eleven. Dan had sat up, and after doing his homework, was pondering over what course they should take. Should they just try to send a letter to the C.C. Corporation? Or, did they already know, and are the knights a response to the horses? Should they come up with a name for the horses? He didn't know. He checked the message board and found no response to Jas's letter. He sighed.

"Why is everything so hard?" He shed a tear, and wiped it away. He read over the letter from Boragia. Slowly he felt himself drifting away, until he remembered something.

"I think I have it. But, for now," he looked at his bed, which was so far off. He slowly put his head onto his desk, and before his eyes closed he saw his door crack and the face of his mother. He covertly hit two buttons on his computer; control and 'L' simultaneously, logging him out of the system for the night. As his mother walked into his room, he drifted off to sleep.

Peg, after hearing no noise from upstairs, went up to check on the two. Sometimes Dan stayed up and watched a show called Whose Line. The two of them would watch and laugh together. She wanted to see if he was asleep. She saw his head on the desk, but missed him logging out. She contemplated waking him up, or calling Bill up to carry him off to bed. She did, however, ruffle his hair. When he grunted and wrinkled his nose she walked out.


	13. Chapter Twelve: Stand

Chapter Twelve- Stand- Real World

Dan woke up when his alarm clock went off, and did everything by routine. Except for one thing. He logged on, and checked the board. There was no reply to the message still. He sighed and walked downstairs.

He munched on his apple as he thought. He felt so weird. He, along with the others, had MILLIONS of lives in their hands. Now he understood if it was ten, or twenty, or even a hundred. Hell, even twenty thousand! But, no, he had over ten MILLION players! Any one of them could be an agent. Any one of them could be the wrench thrown into the mechanics. However, any one of them could be the greatest help. He thought he heard something.

He then thought of Aura. What would become of her if The World ceased to exist. Wouldn't she fade out of existence? And Helba? Wouldn't she be out of a job? There it was, that noise again.

He also considered the fact that it would be likely that if The World crashed, so would the Internet; AGAIN! He was old enough to remember Pluto's Kiss, and the forming of the WNC. He was still foggy on one or two events, but he knew mostly everything.

"DAN! HELLO! DAN?" His foggy thinking was shattered, and he was brought back to reality.

"Uh, yes?" Bill was about to throw a glass of water on him. Jas was about to whack him on the head. He shook his head.

"What's wrong?" Bill shook his head.

"We have been yelling, no, shouting your name for the past ten or so minutes. I thought you were in a com- I mean," he stopped, knowing that Dan's friends' conditions still somewhat depressed him. "What I mean is, that I thought you were ill." He sighed.

"I am fine, father." Dan said coldly as he rose up.

"Is everything all right upstairs?"

"YES! I am not insane! Well, not by much." Jas snorted.

"Nonetheless, I want to schedule an appointment with a doctor, JUST to make sure that there isn't a concussion, or SOMETHING!" Bill said, exasperated. Dan and Jas hid smiles.

"NO! I really can't!" Vanessa said.

"Come on," said Darren, "it'll be fun."

"I'm sure." Vanessa said, dead pan.

"Oh, come on! Bring your harem. I planned this party, and I want as many people to come as possible!" Vanessa sighed.

"I guess I can ask- BUT I am not promising anything!" Darren smiled.

"Oh, of course! See you there!" Darren ran off, leaving Vanessa with a paper in her hand. She read it over and sighed.

"NO WAY!" Morgan said.

"Yeah, we got invited to a party with Darren!" Vanessa didn't see the point of Morgan's excitement. "So?"

"Well, duh! He looks like he just stepped out of an Abercrombie Magazine! I mean," Morgan took a deep breath, "he is just-" and she went off in psychobabble mode. Dan walked to the girls.

"Hey, I think I-"

"OHMIGOSH OHMIGOSH OMIGOSH!" Morgan squealed.

"What the he-"

"Here, read this." Vanessa handed Dan the paper. He scanned over the paper.

"What is the big deal? We got invited to a party with Dar-" Morgan squealed. "Oh. I see now."

"So, do you think we should go? I mean, ALL of us?" Vanessa asked. Jas ambled over to the group.

"OHMIGOSH JAS OHMIGOS-" Vanessa and Dan covered her mouth. Jas was confused. Vanessa laughed a little.

"Here, read this!"

After the bell rang, and the pandemonium that was school dismissal was over, play practice began. The four tried to stay focused, and TRIED to be nice to their understudies, but, it was just one of those days. After all, the understudies WERE Freshmen, and they needed to learn the hard way. Or so the rest of the cast thought.

After a long speech by Miss D. they were released into the real world. The four had to talk.

"So, when is the party?" Jas asked.

"Halloween night. It's only a couple of days away you know."

"So, should we go?"

"We'll see." Dan said, dismissing the subject. "I think I figured out something last night. Hey, if we could meet later. All I am saying is this- bring a Bible. And your computers, if you don't mind." Vanessa was confused.

"What?"

"You'll see."

Dan sat in the dining room and sighed. He hated to use people, but that is all that he seemed to be doing these days. He had to get rid of his parents. That took him a second or two to figure out how to do.

"Hey Mom?" He had asked Peg earlier. Bill looked from over his newspaper.

"Yes dear?"

"Hey, the girls, Jas, and I, well, we were kinda wondering if we could have a Bible Study tonight. There was a scripture that Morgan found, and we want to see what it means." Peg's eyes welled up with tears.

"Yes, of course. Bill, put on your shoes and grab my purse. Let's go on a date." Bill got up and left the room. Peg looked at Dan.

"I am so proud of you, son." She said as she got up and went to her room.

As Dan thought on this he sighed. He ended up using the Bible, which technically meant he used God. He was sure that he would reap the whirlwind, but for the time being, he would be fine.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in!" He yelled. Vanessa and Morgan popped through the door. Morgan still looked giddy.

"You're still high on the Darren Party Thing, right?" Morgan nodded. Jas ambled down the stairs, holding a CD.

"I found it! Oh, hey girls!" Dan waved Jas over.

"Is this the right CD?" Jas nodded. "Good. Girls, you brought your computers?" The girls nodded. "Good, set them up." In a matter of seconds, power cords were extended throughout the room. Dan opened the CD case.

"This is a CD containing the Biblical Texts in several languages, translations, and in it's original Greek, Aramaic, and Latin. I want you two to upload it on your computers. That way we can all study at the same time." He handed the CD to Morgan.

"Question!" Dan smiled.

"What's up Vanessa?" She flicked her hair.

"Why did we bring Bibles?" Dan grinned.

"Deep in the night, I found the letter that Boragia sent us, in here. If you would please, flip over to Isaiah chapter thirteen, starting in verse ten." The group flipped there, and silence reigned over the room for a few minutes. Morgan, a graduate of speed reading, was the first to complete.

"This isn't exact." Dan paused for a second.  
"Yes, well, there are several mentions of the Lord, and of places in ancient times, like Ophir, Babylon, and the Medes. Of course, being Death, it wouldn't mention God or anything like that. Also, because it is a modern virus, it wouldn't know much about ancient civilizations, so it wouldn't put that in there. I am just alluding, of course, but I think that is what is happening." Jas nodded.

"Yes, of-" he paused and sighed. "I read all of the chapter and book, and it appears that in the beginning, it is about an oracle. Then it speaks of what will happen. I then read a couple of verses into chapter fourteen, and it says that the graves are astir, and the dead shall pop out, or something to that extent. Do you think anyone has ever, well, died in The World?"

"I don't know. It appears that there is so much we need to learn." Vanessa said with a sigh.

"Well, we need to get started," Morgan said after a few moment's pause, "first off by leveling up. We all are almost at thirty. Then we will explore the dungeon. I will alert Helba on our intentions. Jas, if you could get Casper, and Dan, if you could get that chick we met in the dungeon the other day." The group ogled at her for a second. This was the first time she had EVER done anything to take control. She sniffed.

"WELL!"

"Yes!"

"Of course!"

"Right on it!"

After the girls had gone home and the boys rattled off mails to the other ones, they ate a speedy dinner.

"So," Jas said after getting uncomfortable with the silence, "how do you feel?" Dan sighed.

"Tired. I am ready for this to be over, and it hasn't even started yet." The sounds of the door being opened stopped him.

"Hey mom, did you have a nice dinner?" Posed Jas. She nodded. "Good. I hope you don't mind, but Vanessa and Morgan want us to play The World with them this evening. We finished our homework, and studied for the tests. We should be fine. Is it okay?" Bill nodded. "Okay!" The two boys went off to their rooms. Bill looked at Peg.

"Bed?"

"Of course."

Dan sighed in his bedroom. As his computer was connecting him to The World, he was anticipating. He didn't know what would happen. He didn't know if anyone would die. He didn't know anymore. All he knew was one thing, and that was fear.

The welcome screen popped up. Dan sighed as he donned his visor. Muttering a silent prayer, he clicked on the action key entitled 'enter'.

End of book two.


	14. Chapter Thirteen: Arise

Book Three**-  
**Risk

Chapter Thirteen- Arise- The World

Sircosgi gated in. Immediately Joker, Badger, Pai, and Casper besieged on him. He messaged Kahlan, and she made no reply. As they waited, he faced Joker.

"So, what does she have to say?" It took Joker a second to realize whom he was talking about.

"She says that she will monitor things from where she is. Oh, and she'll see you later, little boy." Sircosgi laughed and looked at the root town for any knights, or even the Lady Celeste. Seeing none, he pulled the group to an alleyway.

"Okay, listen. We need to stock up on items. So, we will reconnoiter in the Theta field Bitter Mirror Holy Ground in ten minutes. I will see you all there." He hit his heart with his left fist and gated out. Badger did the same, already being stocked up on items. Joker and Pai both went to the magic shop with Casper.

"So, what do you think of that?" Pai asked Joker.

"I don't know. Your bro seems to becoming more and more of a leader, and I don't know if I like that. But, other than that, I hope we do well." Pai nodded.

"As do I." Casper, meanwhile, was making a purchase at the nearby item shop.

"Yes, I would like a few Holy Waters please." She paid and walked back to the two, who barely noticed that she had left.

Sircosgi and Badger, meanwhile, were lounging by the Chaos gate in the Theta server, just waiting for the ten minutes to be over. They refused a few people on joining their party, and even had one person allude to a man named Godot. Badger sighed.

"So, what are you going to wear to the Halloween party?" Sircosgi smiled.

"Oh, I don't know. I was thinking about going as a mage. Why, what are you doing?" Badger smiled.

"Oh, you'll see. You know, you should dress up like-" A small party walked towards them.

"Are you Badger and Sircosgi, the player characters?"

"Who's asking?" Sircosgi asked with a small smirk. The speaker, a Twin Blade, didn't smile.

"We have information that you were involved in the party that attacked the two Knights, Maroon Knights Paul and Ed. Is that true?" Badger shifted uneasily.

"Who are you?" The speaker finally smiled.

"We are just a band of wanderers." He said, with inflection on the word 'wanderers'.

"You aren't the information sellers we've heard about, the, oh, what was it?" The speaker shifted.

"The Listeners perhaps?" Sircosgi nodded. "Yes, we are. We're just curious on how you accomplished this task." Badger nudged Sircosgi. He smiled.

"Who are we but strolling players?" He said before warping to the field with Badger, leaving the Listeners alone in their shock.

The five wandered the field, wiping out any monster portals, making sure that they were at the highest level possible. They then walked into the entrance of the dungeon. Immediately, they encountered a game administrator.

"Thank You for Playing The World. This level is currently unstable and is closed. Sorry for any inconvenience. Please gate to root town immediately." Sircosgi waved the others around the AI.

They grouped in the next room.

"What is wrong with this server? I wondered why it was so empty earlier, but who really knows?

"Is it possibly that we are the only ones able to access this area because of our warping ability?" Badger asked.

"I wouldn't doubt it!" Pai said as he used an orb.

"Hey, this dungeon is only one level!" Sircosgi snorted.

"We already knew that. Remember last time? It isn't like dungeons can change form." The group walked through to the next door. There, they opened a portal, and found several Bee Armies. As usual, Casper, Pai, and Joker all went and attacked. Sircosgi gave partial healing and attack magic's, while Badger completely focused on healing. In a few minutes, the Armies were gone.

"All right!" Casper yelled when level up rings formed around her. They entered the next room, and there were three monster portals that opened at the same time, releasing Rue Guardians.

"Holy crap on a raft!" Pai yelled. They all performed the positions they had done in the previous battle. This one, however, took much longer, and they had to revive Casper once.

"Why are the creatures harder? Last time we didn't need revive, and now, well, what is up? Do they know we're, um, coming?" Casper exclaimed.

"Oh, well, we did have to revive Jester after Riddler got confused and went on a killing spree." Badger said with a laugh. Pai sighed.

"Yes, well, let us continue with this dungeon."

They stood in front of the final door. Each one remembered what happened the last time that they had walked through that door. Badger reached over for Sircosgi's hand and squeezed it. Hiding his surprise, he returned the favor. Casper, meanwhile, was crossing and giving enough Hail Mary's to float a boat. Pai and Joker were looking ahead, both with grim expressions on their faces. With a sigh Sircosgi stepped forward, and opened the door.

"What the hell is this?" Casper, said, almost crying out. Floating in front of them was nothing else than an ordinary Gott Statue. Badger mock laughed.

"Well, looks like we found the treasure." Pai smiled, but Sircosgi shook his head.

"Well, where could it have gone? It couldn't have moved!" Joker, meanwhile, approached the statue. She bent down, and opened the box.

"Well, what a gyp! Nothing there!" She turned with a sigh. "We should leave. I don't like this." The group nodded and gated back to the Theta Root Town.

"Well, that proved pointless!" Pai exclaimed back at their meeting spot, a remote spot in the root town.

"Well," Joker said, "I should probably be going. You know, we are going to be busy tomorrow! Rehearsal and all." Badger, Pai, and Sircosgi all sighed in unison. Casper smiled.

"Hah! Not me!" She stood up. "Well, I should be going too. Bye!" She waved as she gated out. The four that remained just smiled as they too logged out.

Two figures, one in a white robe, the other in a black robe, walked to the entrance of the dungeon at Theta Bitter Mirror Holy Ground. Both bore halberds, each matching the color of the robe. They stopped in front of the administrative staff member, and the black robe waved their hand. Immediately, the admin turned into mush. The two robed figures continued their trek through the dungeon. Every time they passed by a monster portal, it did not open. The two, however, took no notice of that.

They stood in front of the opened treasure chest. The one in white brought forth a bottle, labeled 'Unholy Water'. They poured it in the chest, around the chest, and on the chest, and walked away from it. They then crossed their two halberds, creating a yin-yang of sorts. A light began to shine from within the chest. The figure wearing the black robe raised their free hand, their right. The white robe did the same, except with their left. An aura of light, one that could only be described as unholy, surrounded the pair, outlining their features. The two, as if by telepathy, raised an outstretched palm at the same moment, fingers extended towards the heavens. A ball of light, each respective of their owner, formed, and grew. Soon, each had a ball the size of a basketball.

The two then turned their palm face up, and let the orbs sit upon their palms. Glancing at each other, they nodded. The two threw the orbs at the chest, hitting at the same point, at the same time. It sounded like the entire universe was being rent from its foundations. The noise then gave way to a light, a light in which the robed figures turned their gaze and covered their eyes.

When the lights finally subsided, there was a white Grunty, upon which a man, with no physical defects, sat. He had long, blonde hair, large blue eyes, and a slim figure. The only marking on him was the number 'one' on his forehead. He blinked, and looked around.

At his appearance, both of the robed figures had bowed to the ground. The black robe held up in his hands a bow, white in color. The one in white held up a quiver of black bows, each one with the feathers of a raven, and points as sharp as a diamond. The rider motioned for them to stand and to present their gifts. As they stood, the black robe's hood slipped, revealing him to be none other than Boragia himself. The white robe quickly looked over and motioned for him to re-hood himself. Shaking their head, the white robe presented their gift. Boragia, still recovering from the embarrassment he had just endured, gave his bow.

The two then bowed on one knee. It was Boragia who broke the silence.

"In the name of Death, and as the high Priest of the Order, I welcome thee." The rider, holding their gifts, shook their head. The white robe picked up their halberd, and held it in the air. Boragia crossed the halberd with his own.

"We welcome thee: Conquest."


	15. Chapter Fourteen: Players

Chapter fourteen- Players- Real World/ The World

"Kenneth, my virginity is a priceless thing to me!" Vanessa cried out.

"Cut!" Mrs. D quasi-yelled. "You need to say that in a Southern accent. Remember, you write plays!"

"Yes ma'am!" She paused. "Kenneth, mah vaginity is a prahceless thang ta meh!"

"That's better. Let's cut to the end of Act Two and blow up the cellar. Dan, you know what to do!"

"You know, play practice just seems, I don't know, boring nowadays." Morgan complained.

"Well Bailey," Vanessa said, using Morgan's middle name, "maybe because you are the maid?"

"Shut up!" Morgan said, on the verge of laughter. Dan laughed.

"Well, have y'all gotten a costume done? For the party? It IS tomorrow!" Jas asked. Morgan immediately forgot the play.

"Oh, right. The party with, OHMIGOSH!" Vanessa and Dan glared at Jas. He smiled.

"What?"

"Today is your appointment." Bill said when Dan walked through the door.

"Huh?"

"Remember, the whole non-responsive thing you had going. Well, your appointment is in," he checked the clock, "one hour. ONE HOUR! Crud, get in the car. It's on the other side of town!" Bill raced out of the door.

"Uh, bye?" Jas said, quite unsure of the situation.

"See ya' round, little boy!" Dan said with a smirk.

"So, do doctors do this all the time?" Dan asked Bill.

"By making you wait an hour AFTER your appointment?" Dan nodded. "Yes."

"Dan?" The receptionist called out. "The doctors can see you now."

"Doctors?" Dan hissed at Bill. Bill pretended not to hear.

The two walked down the white, sterilized hallway into a white, and sterilized room where the only color was a map of the human cardiovascular system. Bill sat in a chair, while Dan sat on a long, couch-like examination table.

"I don't like the way this is going father." Dan whispered. Two solemn men filed into the room.

"Ah, Bill! I thought it was your son." Said the man wearing the 'Dr. Ramsey, Ph. D' tag. The other man, 'Dr. Limin, Ph. D', stayed silent.

"Yeah, just bringing Dan here for a checkup!" Bill said with a laugh. Dr. Limin watched Dan scowl with a hint of a smile.

"Yes, well, if you will wait in the reception area, or you can wait in the doctor's lounge and read today's paper. We would like to talk to Dan. Alone." Bill was semi-startled.

"Yes, well, um, if you need me-" Dr. Ramsey gently guided him out of the room, closed and locked the door, and spun around. Dr. Limin covered his mouth with a free hand.

"So, Dan, how are we doing?"

"Well, aren't you the doctor?" He gave a cursory glance towards the other doctor. "Why is there another doctor in the room?" Dr. Ramsey shuffled his feet.

"Yes, well, erm, you don't know?"

"Know WHAT?" Dan asked.

"Doctor Limin is here in order to give you a mental evaluation." Silence.

"WHO ordered that?" Dan asked in a scarily calm voice.

"Your father."

"I will have to speak with him later." Dr. Ramsey coughed.

"Well, let's go ahead and get started. Doctor Limin here will be after me, since he will take a longer time. Make sense?" Dan nodded. "Good!"

Morgan was checking the message boards at Vanessa's house.

"Crap. Crap. Cr- what's this? Heeheehee! WE GOT IT! VANESSA!" Vanessa popped her head into the room.

"Wot?"

"We have the epitaph."

Jas, meanwhile, was leveling up.

"HAH!" He cried as he cried as he sliced through a Valkrie.  
"RUN!" A voice cried from afar. Jas looked and saw a party of players being chased by a black mass. Upon closer inspection, the black mass was people. Warriors. Behind them was a man, a man sitting on a white Grunty. It took him a second to process what was happening.

"FLY! FLY YOU FOOLS!" He watched one of them get hacked down. He realized that there was nothing he could do, that if he stayed then he too would die and enter the comatose state. He raised his hand and sighed.

"Goodbye." He gated back to root town, and from there logged off.

"WHAT THE-"

"Yeah, I know. What is Alba?" A voice spoke from behind them.

"Twilight, dear." Vanessa and Morgan spun around to find Vanessa's mother. "It's Spanish. YOU should know, you did take Spanish for five years."

"Thanks!" Morgan said dismissively. Her mother didn't take the hint.

"What are you two working on?" She looked at the computer screen. "OH! A poem!" She gave it a cursory glance. "Why, it looks wonderful. Let's see." She read it out loud.

"Yet to return, the shadowed one.  
Who quests for the Twilight Dragon   
Rumbles the Dark Hearth,  
And Helba, Queen of the Dark, has raised finally her army.  
Apeiron, King of Light, beckons...  
At the base of the rainbow they meet.  
Against the abominable "Wave," together they fight.  
Alba's lake boils.  
Light's great tree doth fall.  
Power - all now to droplets turned in the temple of Arche Koeln.  
Returns to nothing, this world of shadowless ones.   
Never to return, the shadowless one.  
Who quests for the Twilight Dragon.  
The wife buffeted by "waves" turns her back on the field.  
The daughter that waited for the shadows repeated,  
"For sure... For sure I can go home."  
But the girl did not know...  
The truth that waited at the end of the journey  
The eternal mourning of her land."

She stopped. "Well, that is kinda freaky. I'm not so sure if I like it at all!" She turned her back on the screen. "No, I don't like it. Where are the puppies? The warmness?"

"Mother, not everything is about warmth. There are harsh sides to life too!"

"Yes, but it shouldn't interfere with poetry! Well, I will leave you to it!" She left the room. Vanessa sighed.

"Right, well, continuing on! 'When the finger points at the yonder moon-'"


	16. Chapter Fifteen: Remnant

Chapter fifteen- Remnant- the Real World

Dan sighed.

"You know, I don't always take my pants off on the first date!" Dr. Ramsey laughed.

"Well, EVERYTHING I can do checks out fine. Now, I am leaving you in the capable hands of Dr. Limin. If you need anything, just holler!"

"Um, yes sir." Dr. Ramsey slid out of the room. Dr. Limin stood and looked at Dan.

"So, Dan."

"Yes sir?" Dr. Limin smiled.

"Just call me Al."

"Yes sir, Mr-"

"Just Al."

Yes s- Al." Al crossed the room.

"So, why are you here?"

"I, I don't quite know. Shouldn't you?" Al smiled.

"Yes, and no. Why do you THINK you are here?" Dan smiled.

"You haven't answered my question." Al smiled.

"Touché. However, you still haven't answered mine." Dan paused.

"If I answer, will you?"

"But of course, Dan." Dan sighed.

"I think I am in here because my dad is worried that I am insane." Al nodded.

"Good answer. However," he paused, "this is just to make sure everything is alright upstairs." Dan grimaced. Al, however, didn't notice. He was bent on finding an item in his bag.

"Bloody he- I mean heck. Oh, wait. How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

"Good. Bloody hell. Where did I put that thing?"

"What thing?" Dan asked, like any good patient would.

"Oh, just some ink-blots."

"Sir, do you honestly think I am crazy?"

"No. Just from speaking with you, you seem to be a rational, sensible, sane being."

"Then why must we test?" Al smiled.

"To make sure I am right. If I trusted everything for face value, then I wouldn't be here." Dan shook his head.

"Does my word count?" Al found his ink blots.

"No. Now, what do you see in this one?" Dan sighed.

"A butterfly." Al noted, and flipped.

"This one?"

"A house." Al noted.

"Last one. How about this?" The card resembled the 'Two faces or a vase?' blot. Dan shook his head.

"Well, it could either be-"

"No," Al interrupted, "what do you think?" Dan sighed.

"A vase." Al smiled.

"Good, just a few more things." He filled a glass up with water halfway. "If this glass half-empty, or is it half-full?" Dan sighed.

"This is ludicrous! I have had this asked to me so many times it isn't even funny! I KNOW I am pessimistic. I, however, do not look at it at if it is empty or full; the real question is how the heck are you gonna drink it?" Al smiled.

"Interesting input. I believe this will conclude our test. I would, however, like to hear more of your insight. If you could maybe journal your thoughts, ideas, and the like for a month or so? I would like to have a follow up- to appease your father, of course."

"Keep your story straight, dear sir. Is it for my insight, or for my father, or is it something else that you wouldn't like to mention?" Al smiled.

"Touché. Actually, it is because I like your style of thinking, and would like to learn more about it. However, we're out of time for the day." Dan smiled.

"Ah. You aren't sure about me." Al smiled back.

"Exactly. Good day, sir." Dan waved back.

"And to you." He walked out, leaving Al to ponder over his notes.

"DAN! DAN! DAAAAAAAAN!" Jas called from his room the minute he walked into the house.  
"One second!" Dan called back as he rummaged through the fridge. He needed something deep-fried or smothered in chocolate, and fast.

"NO! THERE'S A LITTLE PROBLEM!" Jas sounded panicky.

"What is it?" Dan grabbed a candy bar in one hand, in the other he had a drumstick.

"BORAGIA!" The food dropped to the floor and without giving it a second thought Dan rushed upstairs. He shut his door behind him when he entered and, after logging in, found Jas on video and audio conversation with Morgan and Vanessa.

"What happened?" Dan asked.

"Conquest has risen." Jas said.

"How are we certain?" Jas said somberly.

"I saw him myself." Vanessa shook her head.

"I still can't believe it. How did he get through"

"He just appeared on the Theta server. Just appeared." Jas said.

"But HOW?" Dan asked.

"I don't know!"

"Jeez, you don't have to yell." Vanessa said.

"Sorry."

"What is our course of action?" Morgan asked.

"We need to get in the game. Maybe we can fight it?"

"We hope. It said in the Epitaph-"

"WHAT! You guys have it?"

"Well, what was given. It says that if we can divide it, then retaliate we may."

"But wasn't that about the waves?" Jas asked.

"Yes, but we must apply this ethic to this. Maybe these are the new waves."

"NEW waves?"

"Yes, well something Aura said got me thinking." Vanessa said. "Dan, do you remember when we went to see that Wagner play?"

"The Ring of the Nibelungs?"

"The same. Now, agree with me: Aura is a god. Well, Goddess to be correct. She said that she came to stop the Twilight."

"And?" Jas asked.

"We were asked to stop the Twilight."

"So?" Morgan asked impatiently.

"The play's last act is called Ragnarok-"

"Which in English means Twilight of the New Gods." Dan finished. "I see now."

"So, we must be dealing with ANOTHER Twilight of the gods." Vanessa said finally.

"I missed the point behind that." Jas said.

"It is a new world, but the rules are still the same. The game is based on the Epitaph. Therefore, the Epitaph is the law of the game. So, if we can find a way to divide, then we may win." Dan said.

"But they're not together!" Jas cried.

"THAT is why we must act now." Morgan said.

"Exactly. We must get them while they are alone. If there were any contemporaries-" Vanessa said.

"Then there would be eternal destruction." Dan finished.

"Good job, little boy!" said Helba's voice.

"HELBA?" The four cried.

"Quite. You must act now."

"But how?" There was silence.

"I hate when she does that!" Jas said.


	17. Chapter Sixteen: Sentry

Chapter sixteen- Sentry- The World

"Okay, here's the plan," Badger started telling the group, "and no screw-ups this time. Someone needs to call Casper. She has a gift, and we may need it. Whoever calls her, if she can't be here five minutes or less after the call, then tell her to forget it. EVERYONE needs to stock up on items, essentially Resurrects, Potions, Mage's Souls, and the like. One person needs to buy at least ten Fairy Orb's. The rest of us, two shall suffice. Sell anything you don't need to stock up. Are there any questions?" A Grunty was heard in the background, far, far away. "GOOD! Let's MOVE IT! Ten minutes we meet back here." The group dispersed. Badger went with Joker to the item shop. Pai went to the magic shop.

"Odd, there isn't any response." Sircosgi said. "I guess I'll try one more time." No response. "Damn." He ran over to Badger.

"No response."

"Jeez, what is this, the second day in a row this has happened?" She waved her hand in frustration.

"Well, I'm gonna go and stock up. BYE!" Joker said over her shoulder. Sircosgi looked at Badger.

"Looks like I'm not the only one who is taking charge."

"I don't see how you do it!" Badger said with a sigh.

"It's a skill." Sircosgi said before buying items.

"So, how are you doing?" Pai asked Joker.

"Just peachy."

"That's nice."

"WHY WERE WE CHOSEN?" Joker cried out in a sudden outburst.

"I don't know. Maybe we will find out later." Pai said, embracing Joker. "Now let's not cry out! Other players might hear you." Joker looked over Pai's shoulder.

"What other players? This place is empty."

The two groups met up.

"Why is this area empty?" Joker asked the other two.

"We've been trying to figure that out for ourselves."

"Come up with anything?" Pai asked.

"Nope."

"Maybe we need to look in here. Make sure nothing is amiss."

"Hey guys?" Joker asked softly.

"Should we split up? Do you think there will be something that will require all of us?" Pai asked.

"GUYS!"

"What Joker?" Sircosgi snapped.

"I think I found something." She pointed behind their backs. There, in plain view, was a red chaos gate.

"Well, I think that qualifies as something." Sircosgi said.

"Should we use it?" Pai asked.

"Well, we'll never know. But I don't like this place. I vote we go!" Badger said.

"As do I." Sircosgi said.

"Me too." Joker said.

"I don't know. It seems too, ah, well, why not?" Pai said.

"Then it's decided." The group walked over to the gate.

"Vamos!" Pai said.

"I love it when you speak French." Joker said, missing the snorts from Badger and Sircosgi.

"Let's go!" Pai said impatiently. He raised his arm and gated. The rest followed suit.

"What is this place?" Pai asked himself. The others gated in.

They were in an empty field. The sky was blood red. There was no sun or moon in sight. In the distance they saw a fortress and upon discussion decided to go there. Pai and Joker took lead, allowing the two Wavemasters to follow and be protected.

"Pai, enemy form approaching!" Joker called out.

"Fine. Defensive position Wavemasters. Joker, free reign. Wavemasters, attack only in defense. Heal if necessary. Good luck." The enemy rounded the corner.

"What is it?" Joker asked Pai.

"It looks, human!" He said, mainly to himself. The enemy had a human form, except for a hole in its chest, a hole that was filled with something purple. They brandished an axe.

"I don't like this." Sircosgi said.

"Neither do I." Joker said.

"It has a scrambled name. 'PN', or something like it." Pai said, using his hands to form quote marks.

"Who cares? It's in our way! ATTACK!" Joker cried as she rushed forwards, Pai a close second.

"Something about this makes me feel weird!" Sircosgi said.

"I know what you mean." Badger said as she scratched her nose.

Pai and Joker were mauling the enemy. Whatever it was, it wasn't a good fighter. It would swing at the same spot every time, even if that spot was empty. Joker paused and watched for a second.

"Fine. I'll take him out of his misery! Pai, move back, this one's mine!" Pai obeyed. Joker moved forwards and raised her blade. "Last hit for you." She jumped into the air. "HI-" The monster name became clear. Sircosgi yelled.

"STOP! IT'S PLONG TH-!"

"-YA!" Joker, however, was already on him. With the final blow, she saw him for who he was. However, as he lay dead, he didn't fade away.

"Why isn't he gone?" Badger asked Sircosgi, confused.

"I dun- wait, his mouth is opening."

Plong's mouth opened, and there was silence for a second. Then from it came the loudest, most unearthly scream from any being other than a Banshee. The group covered their ears.

"WHY won't he stop!" Joker yelled.

"I don't know!" Pai answered. A figure, cloaked in white, started to advance towards them from the distance.

"What is that?" Sircosgi yelled.

"I don't know!" Badger yelled back. The figure drew closer. All the group could see was a halberd. They pointed the halberd at Plong, who stopped screaming. His mouth, however, didn't close. The group uncovered their ears. The figure started running towards the fortress.

"No, STOP!" Pai yelled. They began to chase after the figure that ran inside of the fortress.

Pai stopped at the entrance.

"Well, I guess this is it." Pai stopped beside her.

"Was Plong bait?" Sircosgi thought for a second.

"Or was it a warning?" Badger sighed.

"We won't find out just standing here! Come on!"


	18. Chapter Seventeen: Hall of Horrors

Chapter seventeen- Hall of Horrors- The World

"Well, whoever's this is, they certainly know how to decorate!" Upon entering the castle they found it to be modeled after a carnival's mirror house. Or was it a haunted house? Whatever it was, it was weird.

"Whoever decorated this has a seriously jaded mind." Badger remarked, sardonically. As the group wandered through the main hall, Joker smacked into a mirror.

"OUCH!" The others turned to face her.

"Shssh!" She smiled.

"Sowwy!" The four stumbled to what appeared to be the door. It was hazy, but it had a knob. Sircosgi placed his hand on the knob and turned. The knob decided to make the sound of a foghorn. Frozen in horror the group stared. Finally, Pai got enough sense and sliced the door in half, stopping the horn. However, the door turned into pea soup. Sircosgi looked at it, puzzled. Badger, though, had an idea.

"This could be the Astral Plane." The group looked at her.

"The what?" Joker asked.

"Well, things there are literal, no, they're analogical. Like if I feel trapped, I will be in a cage. Or, I guess, puns make sense. Like the door- it was thick fog. Haven't you ever heard the phrase 'the fogs so thick it's like pea soup'? It makes sense, but it's not supposed to. Make sense?" The group nodded, then shook their head. "GAH!" A loud boom sounded. Sircosgi sighed.

"Well, there goes the element of surprise." Joker took up her blade.

"Well, I'm ready for a scrap!" Pai waved his hand at her.

"No, not yet." He motioned Badger over closer and whispered into her ear. She gasped, nodded, and smiled. She walked over to Sircosgi as Pai whispered to Joker.

"Hey, whenever you get a free chance, look at one of the mirrors." Joker shuffled her feet, stretched, and faked a yawn. She glanced over when she finished and saw the figure from the plain outside, except he was in all of the mirrors. How had they missed that? Unless-

"It's a trap." Joker whispered back to Pai. He nodded. Sircosgi had come to the same conclusion.

"When we opened the door, we triggered the trap probably. We must go forward. I don't think we have a choice in the matter." He said.

"What makes you say that?" Pai asked.

"The door leading outside disappeared." Pai took a cursory glance backwards. Sure enough, the door had disappeared, leaving no evidence that it had ever been there. He sighed.

"This certainly is one hell of a fun house." Sircosgi laughed. The figure froze at the laugh, then resumed circling the group.

"You know how pissed off Mom and Dad would be if they heard you say that?" Pai laughed. Badger and Joker, meanwhile, glared at them.

"Guys," Badger finally said, "this isn't a time to joke!" Sircosgi and Pai immediately sobered.

"Right-o mum!" Sircosgi said with a straight face.

"Capitol, capitol, wot!" Pai said with a smirk. Joker smirked back and backhanded him.

"OUCH! That was ten life points! What the hell are you thinking?" Pai yelled.

"YOU HAVE PLAYED FAR TOO MUCH!" She cried out. Sircosgi immediately waved his hands.

"Okay, you have a point. Let's get through this. Remember our mission!" He said, then as an afterthought, "We're not here to play around."

"Score one for the girls!" Joker said. Badger smiled as she walked towards the door. At the frame, she smiled, remembering what Sircosgi had said to her. When she scratched her head she and Sircosgi raised their staffs.

"Rue ROM!" They yelled, pointing at two individual mirrors. The figure froze again when the two spells broke the mirrors. They continued to break the adjacent mirrors.

"It's working!" Pai cried out as he raised a scroll. "ION STRIKE!" That spell alone took out two mirrors. Joker was using physical attacks on mirrors, shattering them, leaving only one mirror left.

The figure in the mirror seemed to recover their composure. They waved their hands. Suddenly the remaining mirror raised off of the ground, revealing a doorway. With an evil laugh the mirror disappeared, taking the figure with them.

"What do you make of that?" Pai asked the group, which was in silent shock. They shook their heads in unison and approached the door.

Above the door was a symbol in ancient runes.

"What do you make of THAT?" Badger asked. Sircosgi looked closer at them.

"This doesn't make sense!" He cried in outrage.

"What?" Joker asked, apparently speaking for the group.

"Well, these are Arabic."

"Huh?" Pai asked.

"Simple. Foreign and Ancient Texts. I studied it last semester."

"WHAT does it say?" Badger inquired.

"Gimme a sec! I may be a linguist, but I'm not good with ANCIENT texts."

"A linguist?" Joker asked, intrigued.

"Yeah. Long story, will tell later." Sircosgi said, preoccupied. Joker sighed.

The group went sat in a circle before the door, as Sircosgi translated the text alone.

"What's taking him so long?" Joker asked, after a time of silence.

"You wanna take a crack at it?" Badger asked in a menacing tone. Joker's eyes went wide.

"NO!"

"Then remain silent."

"GOT IT!" Sircosgi cried in triumph.

"WHAT IS IT?" The three asked in unison.

"Well, simply, its meaning is Conquest."

"The Horseman's lair. May God help us all." Badger somberly commented.

"God had nothing to do on this one." Sircosgi said in a whisper.

"This is what we came for, right?" Pai asked.

"I think so." Joker added.

"What if-" Pai started but stopped when Sircosgi raised his hand.

"Don't. What happens, happens. We may not find the truth here, but we will find some answers. Let's do this for Lisa and Amanda. Okay?"

"Stop the sap." Badger said, her voice emotional.

"If this is it," Joker started, "just know that I have never felt more, more accepted than I have before. You guys, you guys are true friends." Pai sniffed.

"Ditto." Sircosgi smiled grimly.

"Shall we dance?" He asked, humorlessly, to Badger.

"Certainly. For the idiots." She said as the two of them walked through the door, followed by Pai and Joker.


	19. Chapter Eighteen: Horseman One

Chapter Eighteen- Horseman One: Conquest- The World

"Huh?" Joker asked herself. The four of them, upon entering the room, were blinded by a flashing light.

"Where are we?" Pai asked. Sircosgi sighed as he regained vision.

"We're right back where we started." The others soon regained sight and glanced around them.

"Arche Koeln?" Badger asked. Sircosgi cried out in anguish.

"DAMN IT ALL! WHY THE HECK, AFTER ALL THIS WORK, ARE WE BACK AT THE BEGINNING?" Sircosgi cried out.

"Silly boy, you're at the end." Said a voice.

"Helba?" Joker asked.

"Not quite." A rift in the programming appeared. From the one's and zero's came forth a figure, clad in a white robe.

"YOU!" Badger said. "We saw you back at the field, with Plong. Who are you?"

"Are you Conquest?" Joker added.

"No. I am merely a messenger." The figure said. The voice, certainly a woman's, seemed young, yet it commanded a sense of maturity.

"And what message do you bring?" Sircosgi asked.

"Simple. I bring for you the message of doom, one that you, and only you, shall bring."

"Me?" Sircosgi asked.

"Yes, you. If you continue this trivial pursuit, doom shall meet The World."

"Is that all."

"No. I have given form to this doom." A figure began to materialize, in a data stream, next to the figure in white. "I give you Conquest!" The materializing figure took form. Standing next to a white Grunty, was none other than Conquest.

"Odd." Sircosgi said. "That looks like Alexander the Great."

"No way!" Pai said. "He is the mack-daddy of all Conquerors." Badger stood wide-eyed while Joker mouthed out expletives.

"Hah. Maybe if you see the errors of your ways, you won't continue to commit them. Your friends did. They now no longer bring death to this world."

"This is foolishness!" Sircosgi cried out in anguish. The robed figure just laughed and jumped out through another rift in the game. Conquest merely looked at the group with a cruel smile on his face.

"Let's do this." Joker said. Pai nodded. Badger held up her staff. Sircosgi just glared at Conquest.

"HAVE AT THEE!" He cried out as he cast Vak Rom at Conquest, back pedaling to allow Joker and Pai to get in front of him. The spells connected, for sure, but they didn't have any effect.

"Damn, this guy's like Boragia. Infinite Life Points." Badger commented as she cast a spell.

"What to do?" Sircosgi asked frantically. Conquest began to charge at the group, long sword at the ready. Joker and Pai froze in place and Badger stopped a spell in mid-cast. Sircosgi sighed in despair.

His mind hit a flashback. Conquest drew nigh upon them.

"Hey, I have an idea."

"That would be good now!" Badger yelled over at him.

"Okay, attack NOW!" Sircosgi cried out. Pai and Joker slashed on either side of Conquest, while Badger and Sircosgi cast Pha Varthkin at the same instant. The effect was incredible. The Grunty was vaporized, and Conquest slid ten feet on the ground.

"That was it?" Joker asked, somewhat skeptically. Conquest twitched. "Good. I like a challenge." Conquest leapt to his feet. Sircosgi looked at Conquest's statistics.

"Okay, keep hacking and slashing. Badger, you solely heal everyone with La Repth every ten or so seconds. Use as many Mage's Souls as you need to keep your magic points up. Pai and Joker, SLASH OFF!" Pai and Joker charged towards Conquest, who had the eeriest smile on his face. As soon as they got into striking range he swung at Pai, with his long sword. Pai was thrown across the field with only one health point to spare.

Meanwhile Joker was slashing on Conquest, with the magic assistance of Sircosgi. Badger was concentrating on healing Pai for the most part. Pai, when hit, was dealt with several status ailments. After a few remedies and potions he was back at the front, hacking and slashing. Conquest smiled again and hit Pai with the same devastating blow.

"What is this?" Pai yelled after being healed again. "Hit Pai across the field day?" Sircosgi glared at him, blood lust in his eyes.

"Get back. Our main attack is soon in coming." Pai, wide eyed, rushed back, this time wary of the blade. Joker was having a great success in slashing from behind while Sircosgi attacked from behind.

Suddenly, Conquest's statistics changed. Surrounding him was an odd, green ring. Sircosgi smiled.

"Joker, POSSESS HIM!" Joker smiled.

"As you wish." She pointed a finger towards Conquest. "POSSESS!" A beam of light shot through Conquest, right around where his heart would be. It lifted him into the air, and surrounded him with several rings. Conquest began to scream. Suddenly the beam of light disappeared, and he fell to the ground. After getting up, he knelt before Joker.

"What is your wish, milady?" Joker looked, flabbergasted, at Sircosgi. He had a grim look on his face. He brought a finger across his throat. Joker gasped, then recovered. Glaring at Conquest, she pointed a finger at him.

"Die."

"As you wish." Immediately Conquest began to scream. He then began rolling on the floor. He then finally began to fade in the fashion of one's and zero's flying to the sky. Sircosgi nodded at the group.

"Mission accomplished. But our work isn't done yet." He sighed. "Let's go home." The group glanced over at the now vanished Conquest before gating out.

As the sun began to set on Arche Koeln, the white robe was back. She walked to where Conquest had died and smiled. There, in plain view, was a book. She smiled and picked it up. Giving a laugh to no one, she began to walk away. She began to recite a poem as she faded into the darkness.

"'Won't you step into my parlor' said the spider to the fly?"

The four were in Root Town.

"Wow, the population rose, like, one hundred percent!" Joker said. Sircosgi nodded.

"Hey, did that seem too, too easy to any of you?" The group shook their head. "Well, maybe it's just me being weird. I just, I just thought that it being Conquest et all, well, it should have been WAAY harder. But, maybe it was." He sighed. "Well, I think that we all deserve a night's rest. Does anyone want to come over for dinner?" Pai nodded. "Besides you?" The girls both nodded. "Okay, you guys guard me. I'm stepping away from the controls for a moment." Sircosgi froze.

"I wondered what happened when someone did that!" Pai said, laughing. Together they posed him with his fingers plugging his ears, and with his tongue sticking out. Sircosgi then unfroze.

"Mom and Dad say that it's- what the hell is this?" He said, pulling his fingers out of his ears. The group busted out with laughter. "Whatever. It's fine. Just all of you make sure to save your game. I'm sure that we don't want to lose any leveling up we may have done." They all went to the Recorder's and saved.

Pai and Joker had logged off already. Sircosgi and Badger just stood there, in Mac Anu, overlooking the river that flows through it. Sircosgi sighed. Badger looked over and smiled as she brushed hair from his eyes.

"What is it, Dan?" She said, slipping out of the personas of the on-line world.

"It just seems that it is too easy, V. I feel that there should have been more resistance. He did knock Pai around a lot, but other than that, what did he do? He just stood there and let us kill him."

"Maybe we're just that good?" Badger suggested. Sircosgi laughed.

"He stood there SMILING. I'm pretty sure it ISN'T that. I, I don't know, I just feel that there is something that isn't right going on." Badger smiled.

"Dan, I'm sure everything's okay." Dan scoffed.

"How can you be sure?" Badger just smiled.

"Simple." She leaned over and kissed him. After a moment of shock, Sircosgi reciprocated the kiss. After a few seconds the two separated, a little embarrassed, but neither regretted it. The two just looked into each other's eyes, clasping hands.

"I think it's all going to be fine." Sircosgi said.

"You betcha." Badger said, right before logging out. Sircosgi stood there, alone, until he too logged out.


	20. Chapter Nineteen: Winds of Change

Chapter Nineteen- Winds of Change- The Real World.

Dan just sat there at his desk, musing. Was it true? Were he and Vanessa truly a couple? He just sat there, silently laughing. Who would have thought that they, of all people, would hook up? Or, for any matter, kiss. He regretted that it only happened in the virtual world. Tonight, however, he would make sure that it was more tangible.

He smiled as he stood.

Jas popped his head in.

"Well, it's about time you smiled, Mr. Gloomy." He said in a singsong voice. Dan laughed and threw a pillow at his brother.

"How's the ankle today?" he asked, concerned. Jas shrugged it off.

"Just a flesh-wound." The doorbell rang.

"That must be the pizza." Dan said as he walked downstairs, Jas following. The two of them walked into the kitchen just as the pizza made it in. Peg smiled at her two boys.

"So, what's the special occasion for asking the girls over?" Dan smiled.

"Victory." Peg was confused.

"Beg pardon?" Jas nudged his brother.  
"It's nothing. We just want to ask them over, you know, to be friends."

"Ah, no special occasion after all." Peg said, resigned. Dan shook his head in malhumor.

"Thanks for this, Mom." Dan said.

"Yeah, um, ditto." Jas added. Peg smiled.

"Well, um, thanks for appreciating me." She said, obviously happier. She took out a few two liters and set them on the counter and left the room. Shortly, Morgan and Vanessa arrived. As soon as she saw him Vanessa rushed over to Dan.

"Um, Dan, I just wanted to-" Dan interrupted her with an outstretched finger.

"Does that mean we're together?" She nodded. "Good. Then as my first act as boyfriend-" he leaned down and kissed her. She was not at all surprised, but Jas and Morgan were.

"Wha-?" was all Morgan managed to get out. Jas was speechless, not only at the act, but also at how long they were kissing, and with his anger at himself for forgetting his camera.

"Hey, I thought I heard you WHAT ARE YOU-" Peg said as she walked unexpectedly into the room. Dan and Vanessa broke apart.

"It's noth-"

"We're just-" Peg raised her hands.

"Oh, don't try to cover up! I knew that there was SOMETHING up the moment you asked if they could come over. I KNEW IT!" Jas scoffed.

"You knew it before I did." He muttered low enough that Peg couldn't hear. Morgan nodded as she smiled. Vanessa and Dan both stopped blushing.

"So, um, are you okay with it?" Dan asked. Peg smiled.

"I would have it no other way. Vanessa is a responsible young lady. I respect your decision. BOTH of you." She then stopped smiling. "No babies. Please?" Dan snorted and Vanessa smiled.

"We're not THAT serious. At least, well, not yet." She said. Peg nodded.

"Good. Well, have fun! I'm gonna go and leave y'all alone." She grabbed an apple and walked out, humming an obscure song. Dan sighed and laughed.

"Well, I guess THAT went well." Vanessa laughed.

"I take it she took it well?"

"When were you planning to tell us," Jas questioned. Vanessa smiled.

"Oh, sooner or later."

"With emphasis on the later!" Dan added, making Vanessa laugh.

"Well, when did you two get together?" Jas asked.

"Yeah, spill the dirt!" Morgan added.

"BAILEY!" Vanessa cried out. "There isn't any so-called dirt. We got together this afternoon, if you two must know."

"Wow, it IS true!" Jas exclaimed. "The web DOES get people together."

"JAS!" Vanessa cried.

"What?"

"Ignore her." Dan said. "We must discuss what has happened."

"Jeez, always for the business." Jas muttered.

"I heard that. But it is of utmost import that we discuss what happened on the field, and with Conquest. First question: How many people thought that it was all too easy?" The others all raised a hand. "So did I. Do you think that they weren't expecting us to be so, I dunno, prepared?" Vanessa shook her head.

"No, remember, the person said that they were sending Conquest for us. They knew we were coming. I would like to think that we kicked its butt-"

"I don't think so," Morgan interjected. "This thing USED Plong in order to stall us. If he wanted to kill us, he would have. So, the question isn't 'Were we', it's 'Why we'."

"Precisely!" Jas exclaimed. "What if we were playing into their hands?" The room was silenced by that comment. Dan finally broke the silence.

"Well, I don't think so. I think that Conquest was just a pre-cursor to the rest. I think that they allowed us to martyr him. They may have been unsure of our power. They may have made it an easy fight, so that we think that they are not a threat, so that we stop. However, by us killing him, they know we won't. Ladies and Gentleman, I'm afraid that however hard it was, it is about to get worse. However, we have just successfully protected The World from all danger for the time being, and for that we must celebrate." Dan indicated the pizza. "I hope everyone likes it with extra cheese."

"Well, actually, I like meat lovers." Morgan muttered as she got a piece.

"Thanks for inviting us over," Vanessa said to Dan as she poured a drink. "I think I'll be over here a little bit more often, though." Dan laughed.

"Count on it, babe." He said before giving a chaste kiss on the cheek.

"EWW!" Jas cried out in mock disgust.

"Oh, shove it!" Vanessa said with a laugh.

"You know," Morgan said in between bites, "that we are never going to stop harassing you two."

"Yeah," Dan answered, "we kinda figured."  
"So," Jas said as they got back to business, "what is our next course of action?"

"Well, I think for now we just periodically check in every day or so until AFTER Halloween. These next few days we really need to relax. Halloween, we will go to the party. The day after, well, we'll log in, TRY to reach Casper, and deal with whatever happens. We should also contact Helba, and let her know our progress. Until then, we should all be cautious when we log-on. Don't compromise yourself in any situation. Also, be wary of any mail from Boragia. We do NOT need anyone here to, well, be MIA" He sighed. "Other than that, the chair rests. Have fun. Don't get hurt." He smiled and raised his glass.

"Before I am done, I would like to offer up a toast. To us: may our successes mean victory for all. What we do in life echoes through eternity!" The other glasses went up.

"To us!"

Dan and Vanessa sat together as Jas and Morgan played a video game, talking quietly. Vanessa looked deeply into Dan's eyes.

"Are you all right?" She whispered.

"Yeah," Dan said, avoiding her eyes.

"That's a lie, and you know it. What's wrong?" Dan sighed.

"I feel, I feel the winds of change. You know? This is something that'll make or break us. I'm afraid of both."

"So, you're afraid of change?" Vanessa asked, quizzically.

"Not normally, but I don't like this type of change. Change should be natural, not, well. I guess I am jaded like that, because, well, of who I am, and where I come from." Vanessa kissed his cheek.

"Don't worry. I'll be there beside you, making sure that you are safe. No matter what."

"Promise?"

A kiss is the best answer for promises, especially between two lovers.


	21. Chapter Twenty: Behind Enemy Lines

Chapter Twenty- Behind Enemy Lines - The World

The white robe sighed. Her day was NOT going according to plan. Conquest was supposed to PRETEND to put up a fight, not sit there and die. No matter, she told herself. He HAD served his purpose. She knelt in the sanctuary in Delta Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground, praying. She sighed again, her thoughts wandering. She wanted death. Death, she told herself, is the best cure for all sorrows. She sighed as she stood, and opened the book left behind from Conquest's demise.

As the book opened it flipped through the pages as if a wind were blowing. Bored, the white robe yawned. Why did she always get the boring work, she wondered. Finally the book came to a rest, stopping on a page with a map of a field. Written along the top were ancient runes that spelled out a keyword.

'Delta Hidden Hopeless Tri Pansy. Well, I guess it's go time." She waved her hand in a careless fashion. Two characters gated in, each in a robe as dark as midnight. She tossed the book to them.

"Catch." The two black robes scrambled to catch the book. One of them raised a hand in consternation.

"The master would not be pleased if this were to be damaged." The white robe waved her hand in dismissal.

"I can deal with the master. Besides, it isn't as if my life weren't already a living Marquis Du Sade! Begone." The two black robes disappeared as the white robe sighed.

"Well, off to work, I suppose." Gate in rings appeared to the left of her. Forming was Boragia.

"You know, Master really isn't pleased with you." He said as a matter of fact-ly.

"Yeah, well, it isn't as if the converse of my life here is any better. I can do my best work, and it still isn't good enough. Besides, it isn't like it matters. My mission WAS accomplished. Yours wasn't, remember?" Boragia sniffed.

"Yes, well, you didn't have HELBA fighting you-"

"Actually, the four HAVE gifts. They used one of them, unnecessarily of course, to dispatch Conquest. We can't identify the others, but we were able to re-write the data stream so that if the ability possess is used against us, directly, ever again, it would backlash and kill the user. But, I am sure that they will figure this out, one way or another." Boragia coughed.

"Well, we have work to do." The white robe nodded. The two gated out, missing the character lurking in the balcony, who merely smiled. Some days it paid to be an information mercenary.


	22. Author's Note

Well, kiddoes, this is it! Look for .hack/Legacy, coming soon!

Author


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